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cistercians of the strict observanceVOL. 2 1)10. 3 OCTOBER 1967

Cistercians of the Strict Observance

L I T U R G Y

Vol. 2 No. 3 October 196 7

L I T U R G YVolo 2 Noo 3 October 1967

CELEBRATICNS OF 'IHE IDRD

Fr. Gerard Dubois 1

HOLY c:ross ABBEY:A SHORI' ENGLISH VIGIL

Br. Kevin Nies12

A "HCMILETI'E" AND 'IHE PRAYER OF THE FAITHFULFr. Anthony Delisi

24

A I..OCAL PROJECT FOR REFECTORY PRAYERSFr. Chrysogonus WaddeZZ 28

'IHE SACRAMENT OF RECCNCILIATICN IN THE M::NASTERYFr. Edi.uard Mununu 4 7

MEALTIME PRAYERSOUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION - NE.W MELLERAY

Fr. Benediat of Ava 59

AN OPEN LETI'ER ABOUT THE MANDATUM

Fr. Matthew KeZtey 61

THE EUCBARIST Kr 'IHE HEARI' OF CO™UNITY LIFEFr. Gerard Dubois 63

THE MANDATUM: CONTINUED!

Br. Benediat Kuntz and Fr. Matthew KeZtey 86

'!WO TEx:I'S OF ISAAC OF S'IELLA CN OIARITYFr. Ber>nard Baakaert 90

'IHE RENOVATICN OF 'IHE CHURCH AND THE CONSECRATION OF '!HE HIGf ALTAR : GE'IHSEMANI 1967Fr. Chrysogonus WaddeU 94

Cover Print: THE THREE CHILDREN IN 'IHE FIERY FURNACEBr. Lavrans NieZsson

1

CELEBRATIOOS OF THE WJRD

There is much talk, especially since the Council, of celebrations of the word.Just what does it refer to?

'As a matter of fact, there are several ways of planning a celebration of the word.But this can be said of all of them -they are essentially an as sembly of Christians listening attentively to the word of GJd.Therefore, the reading of biblical pericopes occupies an important place.No less important, however, is the manner in which we receive that word and the response we make to GJd, a response evoked by his own word.This is why there will be mcrnents of silence, the singing of psalms or of hyrrns. Finally, all this will well up as prayer -prayer of thanksgiving, prayer of entreaty, prayer of interces sion. If sane thought is given to the fact that the various participants must see to it that they are united in mind and heart so as to fo:r:m only one as sembly, it will readily be admitted that many elements found in these cele brations are known to us so as to be lived daily in the Mass: chants or in troducto:ry rronitions which recollect and open the heart, readings, meditative chants, prayers in the fo:r:m of litany or collect.These elements fo:r:m what was forrrerly called the fore-Mass or Mass of the Catechumens and which, forsane tirre nON, is preferably narred the liturgy of the word. (The Council has sanctioned this expression; cf. Liturgy Constitution, art. 56.) Liturgy or celebration of the word: do they not both mean the sarre thing?

There is then no reason to feel bewildered.

A little reflection will make us realize that the Divine Office is nothing else but a series of chants, readings and prayers.It also is fundarrentally a celebration of the word.The part given over to the readings has been pro gressively diminished, it is true.With the exception of Vigils -and here also, longer pericopes are really desirable -it is reduced to a token read ing: a short capitulum, so short that we no longer even have time to sit!It is the psalms which have remained the principal part.The psalms, rroreover, can

also be readings; histo:ry bears witness to this manner of praying them,as well as to others:the respanso:ry, for example; that is, a verse sung by a soloist, and interspersed with refrains by the whole assembly.All thesefonns of psalnody are gradually being rediscovered. (Cf. Psautier de Za Bible

2 Celebrations of the Word

de Jdrusalem, Paris 1961, Introduction, pp.37-38.A more scholarly work: J. GELINEAU, Voices and Instruments in Christian Worship, Collegeville 1964, Ch.7.) We had sanewhat forgotten them since the time when the altemating chant in two choirs prevailed, thus putting all the psalms on the same level, although they are so varied in their structure. It has not been said that our Offices will never regain a rrore balanced structure, with a greater resem blance to a liturgy of the word.Che sanetines hears this said, it is true,-that a rronastic liturgy should be of a rrore laudatory type, whereas the "ordinary" people need to be taught and to listen to the lessons of Scrip ture.There is sane truth in this, and it is not without import that the psalms have held such a large place in the spiritual life of rronks, as the whole of tradition bears witness. Since our life does not have exactly the same characteristics as that of Christians in the world, it calls for a ritu al expression particular to itself.But we have not yet attained "perfec tion".Can we claim that we no longer need to "be taught by Cod" (af. Jn 6, 45)? No rro:re, undoubtedly, than the Christian people at large can claim to have no need to praise God

and give him thanks.

If such are celebrations of the word, it is readily seen that monks, who daily participate in the Mass and in the Opus Dei, will have less need of these celebrations, especialiy after the :refo:rm of the Office. Is this to say that they have no place in the life of our m::masteries? It has not been proven .As a matter of fact, there are particular occasions, when , besides the cycle of the Canonical Hours, the ccmnunity ought to gather together, in a special way for prayer: for example, when the Pope asks for special prayers for peace, or else during the week of universal prayer for Christian unity, or when an important personage visits the monastery, or at the death of a rrember of the carmunity.It could sanet.imes be a special devotion.If we re flect on it, were not Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and even the Of fice of the Dead introduced for this :reason? Precisely these 'WOuld undoubted ly lose nothing in taking the fo:rm of a celebration of the 'WOrd.With regard to Benediction, for sane ti.Ire now outside of the monasteries, biblical :read ings and m:m:mts of silence have been introduced into it.However, these last examples show that where devotions are concerned, too much importance must not

be given to them, so as not to detract fran the rrore fundamental liturgi cal assemblies, i.e., the Mass and the Canonical Hours.The history of :recent ti.Ires is at hand to invite us to observe a certain discretion.

Celebrations of the Word 3

What in concrete terms is the structure of a celebration of the word? As was stated above, there are many ways of going about it.However, a plan of this type is finding increasing general acceptance :

A)An introduction made up of the choice of one or of a combination of several of the following:

- a series of versicles, taken from the psalms or elsewhere;

- an invitatory by the celebrant;- the singing of a psalm or of a hyrrm.

'Ihis introductory section could be concluded with a prayer by the one who is presiding.

B) Readings follOWE!d by meditative chants or psalms -care being taken that there be m:::mmts of silence in order to meditate the word in one's heart.There may be several readings.Three seems to be a maximum not to be exceeded. If a passage from the Gospels is read -and this is to be desired, if there are several readings -it would be the climax towards which the other readings converge. There could also be a han ily.

C)A conclusion which is a period of nore intense camrunity prayer.It is made up of the choice of one or of a combination of several of the fol lowing:

- a prayer in the form of a litany;- a priestly prayer which is sanewhat expanded (eucharistic type of prayer);

- the lord's :Prayer.Then a blessing or an acclamation or a final hyrrm .

The following could be consulted regarding methods of procedure:B.D.MARLIANGEAS, Comment batir une celebration de la Parole. Notes de Pastorale liturgique 64 (1966), pp .9-14.

The author rightly insists on the different rhythms and the

interior dynamism of prayer:- rhythms of the whole (this pertains to the plan: introduction, progression towards a climax, the end of which is the expanding of the heart of man to the d.inensions of the heart of God, in prayer and praise);

-


- rhythms between the assembly, the president, the cantor (moni tions, prayers by the celebrant•••);

- rhythms between word, singing and silence;- rhythms in the modes of participation and in the postures of the assembly.

Eglise qui ahante 69-70 (1966), L 'Offiae du soir (even though these cele brations are meant to take the place of the Office, there are many ele ments in this issue which can serve for other celebrations)•

Idem 74 (1966), Celebrations de la penitence.(This periodical, mouthpiece of the Association St-Ambroise, has Abbe Ju lien as director and Fr.Gelineau as editor, 31 rue de Fleurus, Paris VI.)

Cbncerning Christian unity, P.OOUILLARD, Le Uvre de Z'UnitJ, Paris.

The following is a select bibliography of English titles an Bible devotions or celebrations of the word.Fbr the most part, the listings and carments are excerpted or adapted fran the bibliography given by Fr.Thanas KELLY, C.Ss.R., in his fundamental article, "Bible Devotions", in Yearbook of Liturgical Studies 5, Collegeville 1964, pp.29-45. Fr.Kelly's bibliography has been supplemented with titles taken fran the surveys of liturgical literature ap pearing in later volumes of the sarre series.

ANOO., "Lenten Vigils", in The Bible Today 10 (1964), pp.66-74.outlines of Grailville Bible Vigil services for Lent and Passiantide•

• "'Ihe lord's Day Service of the United Church of Christ", in Theol ogy-T=-od..a.-y- 22 (1965), pp.16-19.Introduction to proposed liturgy 1964•

• "It can be done", in Worship 28 (1954), pp.485-486.A plan for a hol_y_h_o_u_r based an the first part of Mass •

• "A Dedication: the Lady Chapel Image", in Worship 38 (1963), pp.2- 3.Description of vigil fonnat, 7 plates, hanily pp.3-6.

J.BEHEN, "New Meaning for Easter Confession", in Worship 38 (1964), pp.164-169.Bible service before paschal confession, using ancient rite of reconciliation of Holy Thursday.

P.BBRUNNER, "As I Have Loved You -Biblical-Liturgical Vigil on Charity", in Good Tidings 2 {Sept.-Oct. 1963), pp.11-13•

• "This is the Time of Salvation -A Lenten Celebration", ibid., 3 (Jan._,,1, . . 9 ,,. . . 6 ,.. .4), pp.11-13•

• "I.et Us Pray for God's Holy Church -A Biblical-Liturgical Cele bra-t-i·an0,- ibid., 1 (1962), pp.110-113.Good rubrical directions.

-


D.CAN'IWELL, "A Bible Vigil", in Worship 33 (1959), pp.100-101. Bible vig il introduced in Chicago Archdioceseo

A. CHAO, "Bible Prayer M=etir1g11 , in Good Tidings 1 (1962),

pp.87-90.M=d itation on catechist vocation; plan.J.CCXNNOLLY, "Devotions fran the Bible", in Worship 34 (1960),

pp.214-218.Pattern explained; plans for close of public high school retreat•

.,,........,,......,,...,,,...• "Bible Devotions:Principles and Sarrple", in Worship 36 (1962), pp.115-120.Fundarrental article in English; sarrples for Church unity•

• "Bible Devotions for lent", in Worship 36 (1962), pp.182-191. A

ccmron and a proper.J.ccx:::NEY, "Bible Devotions of Christian Penance", in North

American Lit urgical Week Proceedings 24 (1963), pp.223-227.F.CDUDREAU, "Celebration in Catechesis and Catechism", in Lwnen

Vitae 17 (1962), pp.139-151.L.DANNEMILLER, "Bible Devotions", in The Bible Today (Dec.1963),

pp.596- 600.On their nature, and a sarrple for Christmas•

---• "Christmas Bible Devotions", in Worship 36 (1961), pp.38-41.

....--=• Bible Devotions in Honor of the Mother of God, Paulist Press, GlenRock , N .J., 1962•

-=---• Bible Devotions for Ash Wednesday and the Six Weeks of Lent, Paul- ist Press, Glen Rock , N.J., 1963.Two handy pamphlets; music.

F.DRINKWATER, "Bible Devotions", in The Sower (Jan.1964), pp.6-11. '!heir catechetical advantages; sarrples by J.Connolly.

C.FERRit:RE, "A Liturgical Method for a Liturgical Catechism", in Lwnen Vitae 14 (1959), pp.49-51.

J.FOumEY, "Celebrations for the Lenten Season", in Lwnen Vitae 16 (1961), pp.685-694.Simple plan.

J.GGALLEN, Scripture Services: 15 Bible Themes, Liturgical Press, College ville 1963.A necessity for every parish; opens up a new vital stream of prayer-life for the whole parish; com:rentaries, readings, litanies, free choice of music.

J.GELINEAU, "The Vigil as an Evening Service", in Unto the Altar, edited

by Alfons Kirchgaessner, Herder and Herder, New York 1963, pp.107-118.

Grail National Center, "Lenten Vigils", in The Bible Today (Feb. 1964), pp.633-674.

J.JJUNGMANN, "Vespers and the Devotional Service", in Liturgy for the People, edited by W.Ieonard, Bruce, Milwaukee 1963, pp.168-178.

J.KKEMERER, "A Priestless Sunday Service", in Worship 37 (1963), pp .520- 522.outline and why; used in mission territories;

bishop's homily delivered by delegate.J.KRAUS, "Ecumenical Week of Prayer", in Worship 37 (1963),

pp.311-312. outline; used for Chair of Unity Octave, Coh.nnbus, Ohio.

K.M:::DCNNELL, "O:rganizing a Bible Devotion", in Worship 34 (1960), pp.144-

148.A pioneer WoY'ship article on Bible devotions; based on T.Maertens ' ar ticle in PaY'oisse et LituPgie 32 (1950), pp.400 ff.

6 Ce lebrations of the Word

Fo McMANUS, "Resf)O!lses", in Worshp 37 (1963), po 635.Bible devotions may end with Be."'lediction of the BL Sacrament, depending on the nature and theme of the particular serviceo

R.McNALLY, "The Word of God and the Myste:cy of Christ", in Worship 38 (1964), pp.392-402.en preaching and Bible services according to the LiturgyCbnstitutirn.

J. MOLEY, "Bible Vigils in the Parish", in The Furrow 15 (1964), pp.512- 516.Types used; opposition net; type of acceptance by people.

R.NOEL, "The Sunday Evening Service", in Clergy Review 49 (1964), pp.665- 675.English (Anglican and Methodist) tradition of evening services is strong; patterns suggested in the spirit of the Liturgy Constitution.

F.NORRIS, "Send Forth Thy Spirit:A Biblical Devotion", in Good Tidings 2 (May-June 1963), pp.17-19.

W.NUITING, "A Pattern for Prayer", in Worship 33 (1959), pp .537-542.

Studies matins and evensong of the Book of Common Prayer .J.PETK>NE, "Christian Unity Octave :A People-to-People P:rogram",

in Wor ship 38 (1964), pp.100-103.Hymn, collect, scripture, silent period, scrip ture, sennon, Byzantine litany of unity, prayers for unity, Our Father, hymn.

C.PFEIFER, "Popular Devotions:A New Look", in Homiletic and Pastoral Re view 63 (1963), pp.408-412. Surrmarizes reasons for this devotion and its structure; a sample service on the Eucharist.

G.DE RASILLY, "Paraliturgy for the Cbnsecration of Catechists", in Lumen Vitae 16 (1961}, pp.695 ff.

H. REINHOLD, "Timely Tracts:Past and Present", in Worship 26 (1952), pp.183-186.

A.:R:X;(IBI', "Four Ways of the Cross", in Review for Re ligious 23 (1964), pp .33-78.Scriptural pattern to revitalize Way of the Cross.

T.S'IONE, Christian Action , 12th Grade Teacher's Manual, Regnery, Chicago 1963.It contains nurrerous Bible Devotions set within the teaching pattern of CCD High School classes.

J. S'IOOELL, "Bible Holy Hour", in Worship 36 (1961), pp.35-38.Outline for eucharistic holy hour; a vital developrent of this devotion.C. STlJHI.MUELLER, Bible Services for Christian Renewal , World Library of

Sacred Music, Cincinnati 1965, 32pp.J. SWEENEY, "Prayers at a Wake", in Worship 36 (1962),

pp.113-115.There are cards and booklets for this purpose:Pax Aeterna , Pio Decirro Press, St. Louis; Prayers for Recitation at a Wake , a card adapted fran the Office of the Dead, Liturgical Press, Cbllegeville; Bible Devotions for a Christian Wake , a card corrpiled by J. Ibrnano, World Library of Sacred Music.

J. DE WIT!', "Family Missirn", in Worship 36 (1962), pp.466-471. Adaptation of Bible Devotion ideas for aek 's mission for Spanish speaking people in Southern Michigan.

World Library of Sacred Music, Inc., 2145 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45214, has published many cards for holy hours and seasonal celebrations in the pattern of Bible Devotions, e.g·.:J. KELCH.AK , Eucharistic Bible Devo tions - Card MP-5 (choice of readings for different occasions and a fine


choice of music} ; Do FITZPATRICK, Forty Hours Devotion - Card MP-6 (uses some of Fitzpatrick ' s experimental music for the psalms and litany; an extremely interesting fo:rm) ; R. SNCM, Forty Hours Devotion (a modif ied service approved for use in the diocese of Pittsburgh , using sane experimental music by Mr.Snow) .

As exarrples, we give here three plans for celebrations, which dif fer in style; one for peace, one for the dead, and the third for Christian unity. (Note: the following is a f ree translation of the French texts. )

I. For peace-A- Stand

Singing: Psalm 121 (verses by the schola , ref rain by the camrunity) .Abbot:

Almighty and eternal God, you hold in your hand the powers and the rights of all peoples. Look with favor upon those who govern us; may the life of the Church and the security of nations everywhere on earth

be strengthened daily under your sovereign protection. Through Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.

-B- SitM:mition:

Men are divided, hate separates them. We know well where it has its source, after all: in sin. This is why there can be no deep-seated, sincere, abiding peace without a conversion of hearts , without the ac ceptance, through f aith, of the Savior.

Reading: Eph 2 , 6-22. MJrrent of silent prayer. Singing.StandReading: Mt 5, 1-12 (Christ himself tells us his program) .SitHomilyo

-c- StandAnd now, let our prayer ascend towards Cod the Father , -for the Church, for all men and for our assembly.

Universal Prayer.


Concluding prayer:O God, Father of Our lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of peace, grant us peace, the peace that the world carmot give.Consolation of the afflicted and strength of those who grieve, hear the prayers of those who call upon you.Whatever their sufferings may be, may all find in you salvaticn and true peace.Through Christ Our lord. R. Arren .May the grace of Our lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the can

municn of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.II. Fbr t h e d e a d -A- We are gathered together to pray in a special way for those

whom God has already called fran this world.All together, we

fo:rm a single body:we are not really separated from our brothers.United to them we will pray, beseeching the irercy of the lord for these iren who have sinned.Trusting in this irercy, we will also tum our gaze towards the glory to which the lord, through his grace, calls us all.Eternal rest grant to them, O lord. R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

-B- SitReading:Ez 37, 1-14. M:ma n t o f s i l e n c e .Singing:Psalm 50, with refrain. Monition:Hope in the resurrection must not make us forget that we also have tofollow Christ in his Passion.

Reading :Mk 15, 33-39.Silence.Psalm 87, listened to by all.Mk 15, 40 -16, 3.

Singing: 11th respcnsory for Easter.Hanily:Patristic reading, fran St.Leo's 8th semrn on the Passion, n.8.

-C- Standlet us pray for the salvation of the living and of the dead, -with faith, let us call upon our God, the Father

Almighty, who raised his only Son Jesus Christ fran the dead.

Universal Prayer.


Compassionate Father, God of all consolation, you who encanpass us with an eternal love and near whom live all those who have died in peace in the faith, we give you thanks for our brothers whom, accord ing to your good pleasure, you have called back to yourself.We ask you to hasten the ooming of your kingdom, so that, together with all those who have fallen asleep in you, we may enjoy eternal glory, through Jesus Christ OUr lord. R. Arren.

Final hymn.

N.B.Besides the readings that have been :rrentioned, sare of the following could be chosen :Pericopes now being used in the Liturgy for the Dead. Old Testament :Is 53; Wis 3; Lam 3, 17-26.Apostolic writings:Acts 10, 34-43; Fern 5, 1-11; 6, 3-11; 8 (above all

8, 1-4.9-23. 28-39); 1 Cor 15; 2 Cor 4, 10 -5, 10; Col 1, 12-22;

1 'Ihes 4, 13-18; Ap 21.Gospels:Mt 25, 1-13; 25, 14-30; 25, 31-46; Lk 16, 19-31; 23, 35-46;24, 13-35; Jn 5, 19-29; 6, 35-47; 11, 1-45; 12, 23-33; 17, 1-13.24-26.

'Ihere is no reason why there should not also be a hanily or a reading which would serve that purpose -a reading chosen according to the cri terion given by the Consilium regarding homilies (Notitiae 1965,pp.209 ff).A few suggestions:Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 5/2/3; Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Ch.27; Chrysostom, Homily 41 on 1 Car 15, n.4; Ambrose, De bona mor tis, end of Ch.4 and sections of Ch. 12; Augustine, Sermons 172 and173 (on 1 'Ihes; senron 173 was already used in the 11th century; cf. Martene); Augustine, City of God, excerpts (L. 22, c. 30); Leo the Great, Sermon 8, on the Passion, n.8; Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 151,nn.2-3; excerpts from a 9th century lectionary for the dead (Revue Be

nedictine 1942, pp.25-27; Bernard, Sermon 5, for All Saints, n.5b-6.

III. For Christian unity-A- O God, corre to our aid

- Hasten to help us.FOuse yourself, do not reject us forever- Redeem us because of your love.


You make of us a point of issue for our neighbors- OUr enemies laugh at us.

Do not hold against us the crines of our ancestors- Hasten to protect us by your mercy. Help us, 0 Q:)d, our Savior- Because of the glory of your Name. Abbot:lord, Q:)d Almighty, bring us into unity through the bonds of peace and charity.May we fo:rm but one body and one soul in the one same hope and faith, so that we may all meet in one same love in Jesus ChristOUr lord. R. Amen.

-B- Sit'!he prophet announces to the exiled people the return and the reunion in the fatherland, but he also shows the way to unity:purification, gift of the Spirit.Reading: Ez 36, 22-28. M:ma n t o f s i l enc e .Singing:Canticle of Jeremia (Thursday during the sumer) with refrain. When separated Christians will be reunited, the

Cllurch will shine with a new luster.Reading:Tobia 13•.lt>ment of silence. Singing.StandChrist is the shepherd 'Who gathers together and leads his flock. Reading:Jn 10, 11-18.

-c- Abbot:lord, you who will that your children be one in you, we pray to you for the unity of the Church.Forgive all that our separations awe to our pride, to our unbelief, to our lack of understanding and of chari ty; deliver us from our narrowness, our resent:Irents, our prejudices. Keep us from oonsidering as no:rmal 'What is a scandal to the world.Teach us to recognize the gifts of your grace in everyone 'Who has re course to you, through Jesus Christ OUr lord. R • .Amen.

(Refoimed Lit urgy of France.)


Universal Prayer:For all those who bear the name of Orrist, that the '!NOrd of Christ may be accanplished and that their unity may be canplete:we pray to the

IDrd.For the pastors of the diverse Christian Comnunions, that the '!NOrk of each one may build up even rrore the Body of Christ in unity:•••For our Protestant brothers, that they may be rend in their attach ment to the Gospel:•••For the Orthodox Churches, persecuted by the govemrrents of their countries, that they be not destroyed but rather strengthened by trial:•••For the faithful of the Catholic Church, that their renewal in thespirit of the Council may hasten the day of unity:•••For those who lead the rronastic life in the different Churches, that we may be united in a greater fidelity to our vocation:•••With one heart and one voice, let us say the prayer which makes us brothers:Our Father•••

Final hymn.

Mont-des-Cats Fr. Gerard DUBOIS, O.C.S.O.

12

HOLY cross ABBEY:

A SHORI' ENGLISH VIGIL

Toward the end of August, Br. Kevin NIES of Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, sent me a copy of the following project for a short English Vigil. It wasa pleasure to receive it and to profit by a careful study of it; and I know that many others will be glad to share the same experience. What is particu larly noteworthy is this: The project is going into its third month of suc cessful implementation. There are some projeats whih Zook very weZZ on pa per , but whiah work out less well in actual practice. In the presen t instanae, this is far from being the aase. Perhaps the best way of presen ting the baak ground of the project will be to quote in ex t enso from Br . Kevin 's letter and explanatory notes. -

-Fr. M . Chrysogonus

Holy Cross Abbey Berryville, Va.

Dear Father,Reverend Father suggested that I send you a little sanple of the "Short

English Vigil" which we brothers are presently having eve:ry Stmday at the same ti.Ire as the Night Of fice in choir. It is an optional Of fice which lasts

between twenty - thirty minutes. There are nonnally about twelve brothers 'Wtlo recite the Day Hours in camon, and of these, nine have consistently partici pated in the Vigil. So far we have had seven Vigils, and the interest ofthose participating (f ran their f avorable remarks and constructive criticisms)

does not seem to have waned. This is reascn for hope of future develq:mant of our little experimant.

As you will see, the foJJnat is actually that of a sirrple Bible Vigil.There are three readings (one O.T., one N.T., and a oc:IInelta:ry or a hanily or sooe other kind of excerpt) , each of which is follc:Med by a psalm and anti phon. The general desire for lengthier reading (expressed in the question naires, etc.) is certainly manifest in our a:mnunity. It is the foJJnat 'Wtlich might prove interesting to you, rrore so than the selected readings and

psalms which could va:ry considerably, since we are not yet botmd to any set schema. Though it is nothing new, it has at least been experinented with, and it is capable of being lengthened (should that be desirable) or broadened

while re taining the same basic structure of readings and psalms.

A Short English Vigil 13

OUI'LINE

I. Invocatio n (kneel)II. Old Testarrent Reading (sit) - Minute of silent prayer

III. Psalm and Antiphon (leader intones; can be recited various ways)IV. New Testarrent Reading (sit) - Minute of silent prayerV. Psalm and Antiphon

VI. Ccmrent:a:cy , Hanily, or Excerpt f ran the Fathers or Modem Authors Minute of silent prayer

VII. Psalm and AntiphonVIII. I.ord , have rrercy. Christ, have rrercy. I.ord, have rrercy. (bowed)

IX. Prayer of the DayX. Retire (profound bCM to crucifix)

EXPI.ANATICNS

RUBRICS (specifically external postures, etc.) are kept to a minimum. We sit for the readings, stand during the psalms , ba.v at the doxologies, and kneel for the invocaticn. There is no attention paid to any arrangenent according to order of seniority or particular place in choir.

OFFICERS There are three readers and one leader (or president) . The leader

intones the first verse of the psalm, and satetirres alternates throughout the psalm with the rest of the brethren.

READINGS We folla.v no set schema of readings as yet. I have been choosing them each week , getting ideas f ran the Bible Missal as to the general or par ticular theire of each Sunday 's litw::gy. The New Testarrent does not necessari ly have to be the exact epistle or gospel of the day.

c::oMfilNTARIES, HCMILIES, etc. I try to scan sate of the Fathers of the Church first. Satetirres I use the sarre readings used by the choir (but not of ten) .We have used Aemiliana Ldlr, O.S.B., two or three tirres. Twice they were ver:y good, but you have to cut out sate of the f la.ver:y language and beware of her forcing the Mass texts into her plan when they sirrply don 't fit into the

theire she is tr:ying to bring out. She is steeped in the Fathers though. We used a little of Pius Parsch one tirre, a letter of St. Bernard, a passage f ran Stani slaus Lyonnet , S.J., on "The Law and Liberty in St. Paul" , f ran The Bridge.

PS.AIMS No set schema. We try to have three that we do not have in the Day

14 A Short Eng Ush Vigil

Hours, or at least a dif ferent translation of those we do say of ten. We use

many dif ferent translations. Saneti.rres we anit verses of a psalm or take sane f ran another psalm and inoorporate them (nostly it 's just a matter of using a better adjective f ran one translation) . A few of us would like to canparethe dif ferent translations and oone up with a mixture of them. Also, we would like to experirrent with the best way for any particular psalm to be :recited, e.g., by a psalmist alone, alternated with the leader, said antiphmally, or choir to choir. Much would depend on the psalm and its structure, etc. I

don 't knav if we ' 11 ever find the tine for all that though!

LENGTH OUr group seerrs satisfied with 20 - 30 minutes. One brother rernai:ked

that our whole period of early rroming Great Silence is a "Vigil" , and that the greater part of this period need not necessarily include vocal prayer in choir. 'Ihe:re is much neat in three lcng :readings and three psalms.

Many tell ne hav pleased they are with this Of fice. It 's very simple,

just like a family praying together, with everyone intent ai listening and prof it ing by it. It seems to be making us rro:re aware of the impact God 's word can and should have on us. At the sane tine we are hearing parts of Scripture that we are not f amiliar with; and if we hadn 't gone to the Vigil, perllaps we

would be :reading sarething less worthy of the tine. For myself , I find that I am becx:xning rro:re attentive at the other Hours of the Of fice.

We would appreciate hearing f ran any of the other houses about a Vigil for the brothers.

Frate:rnally in Christ,

Br.Kevin Nies, o.c.s.o.

* * *The following pages presen t a concrete example of the Office described in the preceding pages.


NINTH SlNDAY AFTER PENTEOOST

Invocaticn: (kneel)

leader: I.et us prepare our minds and hearts to :receive the word of God.

May Almighty God, who cleansed the lips of Isaia, the prophet, with a burning coal, cleanse our hearts and our lips , that we might worthily proclaim and :receive his holy word. To us it is given to knav the :reystery of the kingdan of God.

All: 'Ihose of us who have ears to hear, let us hear.

O l d Testament: Jeremiah 7, 1-28 (Jerusalem Bible)

'Ihe word that was addressed to Jeremiah by Yahweh , 'Go and stand at the gate of the Tenple of Yahweh and there proclaim this massage. Say , "Listen to the word of Yahweh , all you man of Judah who care in by these gates to wor ship Yahweh. Yahweh Sabaoth , the God of Israel, says this: Amend your behav iour and your acticns and I will stay with you here in this place. Put no trust in delusive words like these: This is the sanctuary of Yahweh , the sanctuary of Yahweh , the sanctuary of Yahweh! But if you do amend your behav iour and your actions , if you treat each other f airly, if you do not exploit the stranger , the o:rphan and the wicbv (if you do not shed innocent blood in this place) , and if you do not follCM alien gods , to your am ruin , then here in this place I will stay with you, in the land that long ago I gave to your fathers for ever. Yet here you are, .trusting in delusive words , to no pur pose! Steal, would you, murder , ccmnit adultery , perjure yourselves , burn in

cense to Baal, follav alien gods that you do not knav? -and then care pre senting yourselves in this Terrple that bears :rey name , saying: NON we are safe -safe to go an ccmnitting all these abaninations ! Do you take thisTerrple that bears :rey name f or a rcbbers ' den? I , at any rate, am not blind - it is Yahweh who speaks.

Nov go to :rey place in Shiloh where at first I gave :rey name a hone; see what I have done to it because of the wickedness of :rey people Israel! And nav, since you have camnitted all these sins -it is Yahweh who speaks - and have :refused to listen when I spake so urgently , so persistently , or toanswer when I called you, I will treat this Tenple that bears my name , and in which you put your trust, and the place I have given to you and your ances tors , just as I treated Shiloh. I will drive you out of my sight, as I drove

all your kinsman , the entire race of Ephraim."

16 A Short English Vigil

'You, for your part, rrrust not intercede for this people, nor raise either plea or prayer ro their behalf ; do not plead with rre , for I will not listen to you. cannot you see what they are doing in the to.vns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 'Ihe children collect the wood , the f athers light the fire, the wcmen knead the dough , to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; and,to spite rre , they pour libatiros to alien gods.Is it really ire they spite -

it is Yahweh who speaks -is it not in fact therrselves, to their CM1 confu siro? 'Iherefore , the Lord Yahweh says this: My anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, over man and beast, trees of the cotmtryside ,f ruits of the soil; it shall bum , and not be quenched.

'Yahweh Sabaoth , the God of Israel, says this: Add your holocausts to your sacrifices and eat all the neat. For when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I said nothing to them, gave them no orders , about holocaust and sacrifice. 'Ihese were my orders: Listen to my voice , then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Folla.v right to the end the way that I ma.ik

out f or you, and you will prosper. But they did not listen , they did not pay attention; they follCMed the dictates of their CMil evil hearts , refused to face rre , and turned their backs on rre. Fran the day your ancestors came outof the land of Egypt tmtil today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets. But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have gra.vn stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors.You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer. So tell them this , "Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of Yahweh its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no rrore, it has vanished f:rom their rrouths. "

leader: I.et us bON our heads to the Lord.MINUTE OF SILENT PRAYER.

leader: I.et us stand and respond to the word of God.

Psalm 61 (alternate with leader)

God, hear my cr:y for help, *listen to my prayer!

Fran the end of the earth I call to you, with sinking heart.

To the rock too high for rre ,

lead rre! *

A Short Eng Zish VigiZ 17

For you are my ref uge,a strong taver against the enertlY.

I.et ma stay in your tent for ever , *taking ref uge in the shelter of your wings.

You, God, accept my VONS, *you grant ma the heritage of those who fear your narre.

I.et the king live en and en , *proleng his years , generatien en generatien.

May he sit enthroned in God' s presence for ever! *Assign your love and Faithfulness to guard him!

So I shall always sing of your name , *fulfilling the VONS I have taken, day af ter day.

Antiphon: When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt * I gave them no or ders about holocaust and sacrifice. * These were my orders: * Listen to my

voioe , * then I will be your God and you shall be my people. * Follav right to the end the way I mark out for you, and you will prosper.

New Testament: Luke 19 , 41-48; 20 , 1-19

As he drew near and carre in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, ' If you in your tum had enly tmderstood en this day the massage of peace! But, alas , it is hidden f ran your eyes! Yes , a time is caning whenyour enemies will raise fortifications all rotmd you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing en another within you -and all because you did not recognise your opporttmity when God of fered it!'

Then he went into the Tenple and began driving out those who were selling. 'According to scripture , ' he said 'my house wiU be a house of prayer . Butyou have turned it into a robbers ' den. '

He taught in the Terrple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the support of the leading citizens , tried to do CMay with him, but they did not see hc:M they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his words.

NCM ene day while he was teaching the people in the Tenple and proclaiming


the Good News, the chief priests and the scribes cane up, together with the

elders and spake to him. 'Tell us ' they said 'what authority have you for acting like this? Or who is it that gave you this authority? ' 'And I ' replied Jesus 'will ask you a question. Tell :ere: Jd1n 's baptism: did it cane f ran heaven , or f ran man?' And they argued it out this way arrong themselves , 'If

we sey from heaven , he will say, "Why did you refuse to believe him?"; and if we sey f ran man , the pecple will all stone us , for they are canvinced that Jdm was a prcphet ' . So their reply was that they did not kno.v where it camef ran. And Jesus said to them, 'Nor will I tell you IT!Y authority for acting like this ' .

And he went en to tell the pecple this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenants , and went abroad for a long while. When the time

came , he sent a servant to the tenants to get his share of the produce of thevineyard fran them. But the tenants thrashed him, and sent him awey errpty handed. But he persevered and sent a second servant; they thrashed him too

and treated him shamefully and sent him away errpty-han<Ed. He still per severed and sent a third; they WO'lmded this one also, and threw him out. 'Ihen

the cwner of the vineyard said, "What am I to do? I will send them IT!Y dear son. Pemaps they will respect him." But when the tenants saw him they put their heads together. "This is the heir ," they said "let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours. " So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

'No.v what will the cwner of the vineyard do to them? He will cane and make

an end of these tenants and give the vineyard to others.' Hearing this they said, 'God forl:>idl ' But he looked hard at them and said, 'Then what does this text in the scriptures rrean:

It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone?

Anyone who falls en that stone will be dashed to pieces; anyone it falls on will be crushed. '

But for their fear of the pecple , the scribes and the chief priests would have liked to ley hands on him that ve:ry m::m:mt , because they realised that this parable was airred at them.

Leader: Let us bow our heads to the lord.


MINUTE OF SILENT PRAYER.

leader: let us stand and :respond to the word of God.

Psalm 118 (alternate with leader - a cariplete strq:>he at a tine)

I was pressed, pressed, about to fall, *but Yahweh carre to 11¥ help;

Yahweh is 11¥ strength and 11¥ sang, *he has been 11¥ saviour.

Shouts of joy and safetyin the tents of the virtuous : *

Yahweh 's right hand is wreaking havoc, *Yahweh 's right hand is winning, *

Yahweh 's right hand is wreaking havoc!

No, I shall not die, I shall live *to :recite the deeds of Yahweh; *

though Yahweh has punished rte of ten , *he has not abandoned rte to Death.

Open the gates of virtue to rte , *I will care in and give thanks to Yahweh.

'!his is Yahweh 's gateway,through whidl the virtuous may enter.

I thank you for having heard rte, *you have been 11¥ saviour.

It was the stone :rejected by the builders that proved to be the keystone; *this is Yahweh 's doingand it is wcnderful to see.

This is the day made rrenorable by Yahweh, *what imrense joy for us!

Please, Yahweh , please save us. *Please, Yahweh , please give us prosperity.

Blessings en him who cares in the narre of Yahweh! *We bless you f:ran the house of Yahweh. Yahweh is God, * he smiles an us.With branches in your hands draw up in procession

20 A Short Eng lish Vigil

as f ar as the homs of the altar.

You are my God , * I give you thanks, *I extol you, my God; *

I give you thanks for having heard rre , *you have been my saviour.

Give thanks to Yahweh , for he is good, *his love is everlasting!

Antiphon: My house shall be a house of prayer.

Ccmrentacy: (excerpt fran A. I.OHR, O.S.B., Mass through the Year , 9th Si.mday)THE JUlkMENT OF LOVE

If we are God' s children , we have strength and certainty; and f ran these, joy flo.vs. T.he language of this joy was what the last Si.mday was telling us. Today the strength which we felt then gees on in a time of struggle, but the joy is not lost thereby.

God's children have no ranantically sirrple life to live , any rrore than his first-born , Christ , did. They are a manly people, heroic and courageous be fore death. Like Christ , they are a sign of ccntradictian for Satan and the world. T.heir call, "Father" , is as much a battle cry , as much a cry of need as it is of love. T.he Father 's nane is ressicn of his being and his paver;it gives protection to them in battle, and leads them. It is a sign, the seal of their victory. For the Father's sake , for his children's sake , Christ stands in their midst against the world. 'Ihe Father 's nane is the secret of the paver and the joy which shines on in the midst of the f rightf ulness of battle. T.he Father does not let his Christ go, as he f ights in the midst of the baptized.

In today 's gospel (Christ weeping over Jerusalem) , the Father's love canes to us in the fonn of judgnent. Christ weeps. The Father's incarnate love weeps for the lost city. She was chosen as God ' s of fspring to be the bride of his San; but she would not listen to the one who battled an her behalf , and won her.

The Father's love kno.vs no sentirrental pity; these tears are a judgrrent. The same I.Drd who wept takes up his whip in the tenple, and drives the im

pious out, e:xpels those who were desecrating the house of prayer with their

worldly business. God 's life showed itself as a f ace of judgment , behind the


tears of Christ. Whip goes with sorrcM, both are judgment, both aim to healus.

The Father's d:lildren have need of both judgment and the healing lash.St. Paul is our great witness to this fact; he opens the Old Testarrent in

today's epistle before us , the story of the wandering people of Israel in the desert and the extraordimu:y picture-book in which the lord's love sets dc"'7n

its providential signs of warning. "Everything which happened to them was

typical. It was written as a warning to us." Israel, too, was the people of God, had received a typical baptism as it passed through the Red Sea, and lived by a food which cane dcwn f ran heaven. Nonetheless, it fell foul of God's anger because of its sin: only two of those chosen saw the land that

had been pranised all who went out of Egypt. We too are unsure of everlasting salvaticn, even though baptism has made us God's children , and Cllrist 's blood has nourished us. The way we have travelled, although it brought salvaticn ,is surrounded an all sides by tenptation. In us the life of Christ is in ccn f lict with the world. Every m:ment can bring tenptatian and f all.

'Ihat does not nean that we are to live in terror of sin: "God is faithful.He will not suf fer us to be tenpted beycnd our bearing." It is no way for God's children to be fearful rather than thankful for the graces of Scnship and the judgrrents of love." Directly upcn the serious adrroshrrent of theepistle cx:nes the happiness of the gradual: "O lord, our lord, hc:M the majes ty of thy narre fills the earth." The sight of God's judgments awakens in the Father's children a joy and respcnsibility which is one of cheer. 'Ibey have a calling to carry . out his love's judgrrents. God acts through nen. '!heir holi- . ness is judgrrent against the world; therefore God 's children are to feel therreelves first and forerrost under the continual judgrrent of love. Their happiness is to be in the "law of the lord." In the holy sacrifice they seek

to be near to the lord, and hence seek his judgr:rent. They knc:M that this is the place where the wol:k of their redenption and reconciliation is to be

ful filled. The body and blood of Cllrist unite them to him; so they abide beneath the judgr:rent of his presence, which heals them.

'Ibis is the great content of our liturgy today: the lord, as he f irst came in flesh , and as he will at last care at the end of time , cares to judgr:rent.

NCM he is the judge in his Father's house, the eaalesia.He ccrres to do judg rrent upon his CMn , to make them real sons of his CMn Father; not sons in name


alone, but true and holy sons.

leader: let us bav our heads to the Lord.MINUTE OF SILENT PRAYER.

leader: let us stand and respond to the word of God.

PsaJm 17 (Grail, exce:r:pts)

You, O Lord, are my lamp, *my God who lightens my darkness.With you I can break through any barrier, *with my God I can scale any wall.

'As for God, his ways are perfect; *the word of the Lord, purest gold.

He indeed is the shield *of all who make him their ref uge.

For who is God but the Lord? *W:io is a rock but our God?The God who girds me with strength *and makes the path safe before me.

My feet you made swift as the deer' s; *you have made me stand fi:rm on the heights.You have trained my hands for battle *and my a:rms to bend the heavy bav.

You gave me your saving shield; *you upheld me , trained me with care.

Lang life to the Lord, my rock! * Praised be the God who saves me ,

the God who gaves me redress *and subdues peeple under me.

You saved me f ran my furious foes. *You set me above my assailants.You saved me f ran violent men, *so I will praise you, Lord, arncng the naticns: *I will sing a psaJm to your narre.

He has given great victories to his king *


and sham his love for his anointed, *for David and his sons for ever.

Antiphc:n: You, O Iord, are iey lanp, * iey God who lightens iey darkness.

lord, have rrercy. Christ, have rrercy. lord, have mercy.

leader: I.et us pray. (brief pause)

lord, listen with carpassion to the hunble prayers of your pecple, and that you may grant what they desire, make them ask only for that whidl pleases you. 'Ih:rough Jesus Christ.

(Profound ba.v to crucifix and retire)

Holy Cross Abbey Br.Kevin NIES, O.C.S.O.

24

A "HG1ILEI'I'E" AND THE PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

There are said to be three things that apparently seem useless. The f irst is a full noon at noon; the seoond is rain at sea; and the third is preaching to priests and religious. Despite all that the Constitution on the Liturgy has to say about the utility of the hanily and the f act that "it is esteemed as part of the liturgy itself " and "should not be anitted except for serious reason" , we have had dif ficulty in oonvincing sane of the nonks of this abbey of this truth.

During the past year, we of this ccmnunity have been t:rying sanething that seem.s to fulf ill the functicn of the hanily , and yet is shorter and to the

point. Instead of a hanily we have introduced what we like to call a "hani lette". The foundation for making this seeming innovaticn is based on a docu ment issued by the Consiliurn on January 13, 1966. Article 7 states:

It belongs to the celebrant to engage the people in this camon prayer by pronouncing a preliminary adnoniticn of great liturgi cal or pastoral importance. This instructicn , which is usually brief , and which is always addressed to the people and not to God, may be centered on the liturgical ti.Ire of the year, the therre of the feast of the day, of the life of the saint being celebrated, and should lead into the prayer which follc:Ms. This preliminary adm::>nition may be anitted for a just cause, especially if the can non prayer imnediately follCMS the hanily.

Fran the above , one gathers that the preliminary adm::>niticn of the Prayer of the Faithf ul is similar in fo:rm to a homily, and that at times the hanily may take its place.

We have made this adm::>niticn into a short "hanilette" related, usually, to the gospel of the day.

A visiting bishop recently cx:mrended our Abbot on the brevity and aptness of his hanily. Actually, Father Abbot had merely read what we like to call a"hanilette" , an introduction to the Prayer of the Faithful based on the gospel of the day.

'lhe follc:Ming are sarrple "hanilettes" taken f ran those delivered here during the past year. They are f requently based en the documents of Vatican II or on the introductions to the Sunday Masses as found in the Bible Missal.

A "Homilette" and the Prayer of the Faithful 25

FORI'Y HOURS

Christ is always present in his Church , in her liturgical celebratians • • •But as the Constituticn en the Liturgy re minds us , he is especially present under the

Eucharistic species. I.et us pray for one another in order that we

might manifest externally our belief by our devotion during this Forty Hours I:evotion.

Petitions follow. They are usually based on those found in the Bible Missal.

The petitions also vary aaaording to local needs.

1st SUNDAY OF LENT

The seascn of Ient has a twofold character: first, to bring to mind our Baptism whereby we were incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ; and then to call us to a life of

penance which will dispose us to hear rrore diligently the word of God, to devote ourselves to prayer, and to joyfully celebrate the paschal TI¥Ste:ry. I.et us pray that we may bef aithful to our Ienten obligaticns.

Petitions follow. Concluding Prayer:

Heavenly Father, .listen to our prayers and look rrercifully upon our penance; grant that your Church , cleansed of sin, may approadl Easter with the spiritual joy of the Holy Spir it: This we ask through your Son and our lord, Jesus Christ. R. Arren .

2nd SUNDAY OF LENTIn today's gospel we behold Christ in glo:ry. He wrought this wonder to let us see rrore clearly that he became man in order

to redeem and glorify all of us. For this reason, too, he gave us the Sacraments. by their visible signs and paver the whole man is af fected. I.et us pray that we may be open to the paver of the Sacraments, and thus make our bodies andsouls ready for the glorious transfiguration. Based on the Bible

[Missal.Petitions and aonaluding prayer follow.

26 A "Homilette and the Prayer of the Faithful 1!·3

3rd SUNDAY OF LENTOn the f irst Sunday of lent we beheld Jesus being terrpted by

Satan. In today 's gospel our Lord explains to us how the e vil spirits strive to take possession of us . let us pray for one another for strength to be f aithf ul to our baptismal vows by :rejecting Satan and all his works, in order that the power of Christ might conquer through us.

Petitions follow. Concluding Prayer:

Heavenly Father , listen to our prayers and look on us with rrercy. Help us to be f aithful to our baptismal VCMS in or der that we might be the children of Light. This we ask through Jesus Christ, your Sen and our Lord. R. Amen.

HOLY THURSDAY

This evening we are rerrerrbering an event that happened long ago. We call it the Lord's Supper• • • a rreal during 'Mlich Je sus changed bread into his Body and wine into his Blood.

This evening we are not only remembering this event; we are actually renewing it in the IT!YSte:cy we are about to celebrate. let us pray for one another in order that we might worthily partake of this Supper of the Lord.

Petitions follow. Concluding Prayer :

O loving Father, we are about to renew once again the Supper of your Son. Foster within us a social love in order that, by sharing in the suf ferings of Christ , we also might extend our love to the entire world. This we ask in the name of your Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ. R. Amen.

PENTECOST SUNDAYThe Liturgy of the Word in today's Mass highlights the con

trast between the absence of the Paraclete and his active presence. Instead of weakness , darkness, ignorance, there is strength, there is light , there is truth. let us pray for hearts cleansed by the Holy Spirit, that we may dedicate our selves to the renewal of the Church in this post-Counciliar era, so aptly called a New Pentecost.

A "HomiZette" and the Prayer of the Faithful 27

Petitions foZZow. ConaZudirzg Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you sent forth the Holy Spirit at the re quest of your Son Jesus Christ. May we who bear the name of Christians be so united by the bond of love with Christ, that we may be transfomed into ever greater tenples of the Living God: Through Christ our lord. R. Amen.

4th SUNDAY AFTER PENTEOOSTSaint Paul, in the first lesson of this 4th Sunday after Pen teoost, makes :reference to that future age when the :renovation of the world will take place. 'Ihe Constitution on the Church.reminds us that our Church is a pilgrim Church, and in this world she dwells anong creatures who groan and travail in pain until nCM, and await the :revelaticn of the sons of God. Let us pray for the Church, for we are the Church, and thus must be a sign to the world of that glo:ry which waits to be be :revealed within each one of us. Based on art. 48 of the Constitution

[on the Churah.Petitions foZZow. ConaZudirzg Prayer:

Heavenly Father, look upcn us, the pilgrim Church of your Son. We have been signed with your Holy Spirit, yet we ask of you the grace to share in that final glo:ry which has yet to be re vealed through Christ our lord. R. Amen.

Vhat we have introduced here on a local nonastic level, others might also find helpful, especially in :religious commmities where p,reaching of any type always seems to be too long. The short "hanilette" can take the place of thehanily since it applies the gospel text and makes it relevant to the asserrbly. On a pastoral level the short hanilette might easily be introduced into the daily Mass.Variety always helps to hold the

attention of the congregation. 'Ihe hanilette is especially suited to weekdays when the Prayer of the Faith ful i.nmadiately folla-.rs the Gospel. With the use of the hanilette, it ishoped that the Holy See will penni.t the Prayer of the Faithful always to fol la-.r the Gospel, instead of the Creed.

Abbey of the HoZy Spirit Fr.Anthony DELISI, O.C.S.O.

28

A I.DCAL PRQJECI' FOR REFECIDRY PRAYERS

A few days ago I received a request for information fran Fr. Cienent de BOtJR.mT of Bellefrntaine. For the past year or so, Fr. Cl.em:mt has been a member of a group of Benedictine and Cistercian cantors who meet f ran tine to tine to discuss prcblems dealing with the music of the liturgy in Frendl.Readers of the French versicn of this bulletin, Liturgie, are already grate ful to Fr. c!Efuent for his clear and extremely helpful reports of discus sions held at Bellefcntaine late in 1966 (1) and again at BcxiUen in mid-Aprilof this year (2) . Fr. Clemant is currently worltlng en yet another report, but of a sanewhat dif ferent nature. The Cistercian abbots of the southern and western regicns of France have included cm the agenda for their Octc:ber m:et ing a discussion of ironastic refectory prayers, ccnsidered especially fran a practical point of view. Fr. Cienent is busy gathering material; and having heard that I too am ccnsiderably interested in the questic:n of refectoi:y prayers, he asked me for a brief status quaestionis about CMn work in this area.

Kncwing that rather many English-speaking superiors and cantors have a similar practical interest in the questirn of refectory prayers , I suspect that it might serve a useful purpose if Il'elrorandun, sketchy as it is, ap pears in our liturgy bulletin. I am only too -well aware of the limitaticns and provisional nature of the project about to be described. But I also knew

that similar projects are already being inplenented in a nuriber of our carmu nities; and it could well be that the appearance of a few sanples of the

Gethsemani project will lead to fruitf ul discussions , and the eventual publi cation within these pages of similar but better projects. It may be said inpassing that no less than 30 pages of the first issue of Litur>gie et Monas ter>es: Chr>onique (3) are devoted to precisely sudl a collection of refectory prayers in Frendl and Dutch. Pe.Ihaps it will be possible to publish an Eng lish florilegium of such texts (with nrusic) in the near future.

But before describing the local Gethsemani project, let me insist on thelimitaticns of this nenorandum.

Re feator y Prayers 29

The Need for Biblical Research I have absolutely no intention of even touching an certain absolutely fun

dan:ental questions -particularly that of the theological significance of our neals in camon. At the sarre tine, I wish to insist an the priority ofirrportance which should be accorded this question by anyone even rerootely in te:rested in a :revision of our :refecto:ry prayers. The:re a:re few hunan actions so rich with deep neaning as that of our sharing a neal together. Neither F:reud nor Jtmg would disag:ree with this staterrent. And any student of carpar ative :religicn could write or speak at g:reat length en the :religious inportof the ca:mon :repast in all cultu:res, at all tines, and in all places. But if this is true in a general way for all :religions and cultu:res, how much rro:re

true is it not for Christians, whose food is the Body and Blood of the Lord, and for whan eve:ry neal taken in ccmncn partakes of sarething of the natu:reof the Eucharist? Clearly , any :revision of our :refecto:ry prayers should lie in the general di:rection of our making rro:re evident the :religious and specif ically Olristological significance of eating together in a fellowship offaith and love. OUr ef forts at :revision of our :refecto:ry prayers will be without success unless they sa:rehow lead us to a deeper experience of the Iey'ste:ry of Olrist p:resent· and living in our camm.mity. I the:refo:re urge as a

neoessa:ry preparation for shaping up sudl a project, a neditative study of those biblical texts which best bring out the :religious significance of the

neal. I wish to :recarm:md, in particular, two works which will be ext:r::emely helpful in this :regard. The first is the essay by Fr. Jean DANIEwU, S.J., "The Banquet of the Poor." This is easily accessible to English :readers inthe collection of the author's articles gathe:red under the general title, The Lord of History (4) . Richly :resonant as the English title of the essay is, however, it fails to suggest the sccpe of the a:rea actually cove:red by Fr.Danielou, and indicated by the title of the original Frendl version , "I.es repas de la Bible et leur signification" (5) . Perllaps even rro:re helpful a:re the two voltmes of Bible Themes -A Sourae Book , by Dan Thier:ry MAERI'ENS,o.s.B. (6) . A close study of the :references and camients corresponding to the words "neal" , "b:read" , "wine" , etc., as given in the alphabetical index by

subjects, will provide the :reader with a superabtmdance of material.

The Need for Historical Research Another a:rea of fundarrental inportance which this mem:>randum does not di

:rectly deal with is that of pu:rely historical :research. lihat is the source of

30 Re fectory Prayers

our present refecto:ry prayers? Are these prayers truly representative of a

real traditian? Hav have nonks prayed in the refecto:ry in past ages, and in dif ferent cultures and fomi.s of nonastic life? What can we leam f ran a study of these sources? 'Ihese questions should be asked - and answered. For my self , I realize ha.v superficial have been my own explorations in this

fieldof historical research. I wish , ha.vever, to mention the titles of a feM books

and editions of source material which I found particularly useful. La MaisonDieu 18 (1949 ) , contains , besides the article by Fr. Danielou mentionedabove, a nurrber of other extrerrely helpful essays in keeping with the general there of the issue , "'Ihe rreal, bread, and wine." {Sanewhat less practical, I suppose , but wcnderfully enjoyabl e, for all that, is the exce:rpt fran RABE LAIS' pen, which appears in the sane issue - "Exposition de caballe nonas tique en matiere de boeuf sale." )

For specifically rronastic usage , the classical older a:.mnentaries an the Rule are invaluable -particularly those by Paul WARIBFR:ro (7) , HILDEMAR (8) who fella.vs Paul Wamef rid ve:ry closely, SMARAGDUS (9 ) , Peter BOHIER (10) , and Cardinal John TURRECREMATA {To:rquernada) (11) . 'Ihough not quite a carmenta:ry in the strict sense, BENEDICT of Aniane' s Concordia regu forum , in which passages f rom the Rule are folla.ved by pertinent parallel passages taken f ransate one or nore of the 26 other rules fran which he quotes, is extrerrely

helpful. Of the later ccmnentaries, the classic one by Dan MAR:rlNE, O.S.B., reproduced in PL 66 , is alnost the nost practical one. Alrrost, because theone by the encyclopedic Prior of Af f lighem, Dan Benedict HAEFTEN, O. S.B., in disputably should hold pride of place. The whole of the tenth "disquisitio of his Disquisitionum Monasticarum Libri XII is devoted to questions toudling an the refecto:ry , food, and f asting (12) • It is to be regretted that copies of this carmenta:ry, to which Martene and others ave so much , are extremely rare. By folla.ving up the references given in these pages, one can easily

obtain a small libra:ry of source material which includes, besides St. Benedict's Rule, the earlier Regula Magistri , as well as texts by Cassian , St. Basil, St. Pa chanius and his disciples, and a host of others.

No less irrportant than the oomrentaries an the Rule are nonastic rules other than the one attributed to St. Benedict, and the custan-books which show ha.v these rules were actually put into practioo. For the nonastic cus

tanaries, Dem Bruno ALBERS ' Consuetudines monasticae{five volurres in four)

(13) retain their ccnsiderable value , even though they have been replaood in

Re fectory Prayers 31

part by the critical editions of texts included in the first three volumes of the new mcnumental collection edited under the general supervision of Dan

Kassius HALLINGER, O.S.B., Corpus Consuetudinum Monasticarum , Sieburg1963 - • Pp.LIX-LXXIX of Vol. I of this latter series of fer a rich bibliog raphy of available editions of the rrore important custan-books. Anyone ccn cemed with the questicn of refecto:cy prayers would do well to consult as much of this material as is possible. For the Cistercian tradition, the fun damental texts are contained in the earliest redacticn of our usages (extant in a manuscript written shortly before 1134 ) edited by

the late Fr. Bruno GRIESSER, S.O.C., Die "Ecclesiastica Of ficia Cisterciensis Ordinis" des Cod . 11?1 von Trient , in Ana lecta S.O .C. 12 (1956 ) , pp. 153-288. This editicn includes the variant readings of the f amous manuscript type ( ca. 1183) nCM cat alogued in the Dijon Municipal Libra:cy , Ms. 114 (82 ) , as well as of several other 12th oentu:cy redactions of the Cistercian Usages. These, plus the par allel sections of the 1689 Rituale Cisterciense , demcnstrate clearly enough that the Cistercian refecto:cy prayers have undergcne precious little evolu tion in the past 800 years.

But we should also include arrong other oojects of historical research a number of ccnterrpora:cy publications. Af ter all, publications of our CM1 time belcng just as much to histo:cy as any of the source material indicated above . Possibly the rrost practical collecticn of refecto:cy prayers is the substan tial carpilation by Fr. M.D. BOUYER, O.P., Le Livre de la table : Priere s pour le repas , Paris 1966. A preview of the general style of the contents had been

given at an earlier date in a series of projects by P. OOUROUBLE, "Benedic ticns de la table" , which appeared in Notes de pastorale liturgique in 1962-1963 (14) . 'lhe collection included in Liturgie et monastere s : Chronique I, has already been rrentioned above. In Gennan , Dan Michael vcn WI'IOOSKI 's Tischgebete (15) , edited by the Byzantine Rite priest , Fr. Johannes PETERS , is a bit disappointing to anyone expecting a series of texts phrased in the

rich image:cy of the Christian East. As a matter of fact, even the traditicnal Byzantine "Of f ice at Table" provides surprisingly few really noteworthy texts(16) . In English, rrention may be made of the chamri.ng collection carpiled by

Paul S. McELROY, Prayers and Graces of Thank sgiving (17) . Unfortunately, the great diversity of material included in this slender tare precludes the pos sibility of any kind of stylistic unity; but many of the texts invite adapta tion, even when they cannot be adopted as such. No less chamri.ng is W. L.

32 Refectory Prayers

COOK ' s collection, Mealtime Graces for the Family (18) , even though

biblical sources are scarcely alluded to, and even though the prayers are sanewhat shapeless and highly individualistic. Still, the texts are inspired by deepOlristian sentiments and the facts of ew:ryday life. It is true that the nealtime prayers "For a Family Picnic" (as well as those "For a Family Pirnie-Rained In") might seem less pertinent for nonks; less pertinent, too, the graces for days "When Dad Gets a Pay Raise" or "Son or Daughter Makes the Honor Roll" . But rrost rronks will find in such a series of hanely prayers the sort of spontaneity and irrmediacy which we miss in the s.irrple, chaste, clas sical prayers found in the rronastic sources.

A Few General Emergents A :reasonably caref ul study of the material rrentiened above :resulted not

only in the acCllmUlation of a formidably massive pile of notes, but in the energence of a few general .irrp:ressions.

1- I could not help but be .irrp:ressed with the sheer amplitude of most of the :refecto:ry prayer fomrularies. Often enough , the prayers take on the fo:rm of a fully structured Of fice, carplete with psalnody. All this is rather dif ficult to explain if it is ne:rely a questien of "blessing the food." My own

feeling is that, in practice, the theological foundations lie deeper. The im portant thing seems to be less that the food gets blessed, than that the

brethren gather for a ireal in camion. The ccmmm.ity ireal, then, takes en an

ecclesial dinension of deep religious .irrport. Would it be going too far to suggest that the f amily neal is as much an "epiphany" of the local church as the carmon celebration of Sext or Canpline? Thus , our praying together in the refecto:ry takes en the nature of a carmunity celebratien in the deepest sense of the word.

2- Yet another general .irrpression was this ene: Although the present re fecto:ry prayer fonnularies contain many riches, they f ail to ccnvey these to the average :religious in any :really ireaningf ul way -at least over a leng period. Further, the present :refecto:ry prayers entail a number of illogically grouped elenents and vestigial relics which have long since lost their raison d 'etre. To :recognize this fact, and to take the steps necessai:y to correctit, is s.irrply to be f aithf ul to the directives for liturgical :refonn given bythe 2nd Vatican Council. Thus , there is no question of our losing anything, but rather of our recovering what has already been lost, so far as the great er number of us are ccncemed.

Refectory Prayers 33

3- In general, very few of the traditional refectory prayer fonnularies draw extensively on the inmense wealth contained in the biblical sources.

I am also in sufficient contac. with rrw ONn cannunity and other carmuni ties to knCM that many of the brethren feel a need for a drastic simplifica tion of the refectory rubrics.Though it is easy enough to justify each par ticular point when taken singly, the individual rubrical prescriptirns do tend to accmtulate and to take an -according to same of the brethren -op pressively massive proportions.So many bows! so many turnings this way and that!Granted that the problem is often grossly exaggerated, the c:::arplaint nevertheless has its elerrent of truth.

Inmediate Background of the Gethsemani ProjectAlthough rrw cannunity has always taken advantage of pennission to

use the rrother tongue so often as this faculty has been legitimately available, I hesitated for as long as possible before tackling directly the prcblem posedby the refectory prayers.In general, rrw feeling is that it would be againstthe interests of fruitful refo:rm to abandon Latin so often as the rite in English will raise as many or even more problems.In most instances, the ad vantages of using the rrother tongue far outweigh the conccmitant disadvanta ges of using the rrother tongue.But in the case of the refectory prayers? I felt that, in general, the use of English would only thrc:M into greater re lief the intrinsic deficiencies of the present fonnulary .Thus, even though we had available an official Cistercian translation of the refectory prayers(17), I preferred to continue with the Latin version, pending the revisirn of the rreal prayers themselves, persuaded that the refectory prayers in English would raise even rrore problems than the sarre refectory prayers in Latin.There was yet another reason behind rrw hesitation to adopt the English version.For sare tirre our carrmmity here at Gethsernani has been busy rebuilding our rronastery quadrangle, wing by wing.Our refectory is nCM in a state of utter derrolition, and we have been taking our

meals in a terrporary refectory an the second floor of what used to be the old guest house.The tercporary re fectory straddles t w o separate large roans connected only by a narrc:M pas sageway.'As if this were not bad enough, the whole area has already been treated with "acousticon", with a view to eliminating as much noise as pos sible in what will later be used as an area for offices and roans for visit ing fathers and brothers of the brethren. Thanks to our Br.Kilian, who has a


charism for all tlrlngs electronic, our excellent public-address system makes it possible for the reader at table to perfonn his functicn without difficul ty.But for all other pmposes, the sound sirrply evaporates.Accordingly, we are in the worst possible situation for praying together with dignity and beauty .It see:rred to rre that the concrete situaticn was such that it preclud ed the possibility of any really fruitful ad experimentwn project for the re fecto.cy.

As it tw:ned out, I was wrcng.

Reverend Father's private council rea::mnended the adopticn of English for the refecto.cy prayers at the earliest possible date.'Ihere was an initial un successful atterrpt to obtain pennission to revise the prayers themselves; but this difficulty was renoved in the i.nnediate aftennath of the recent General Chapter.As a result, I was able to revise one of my earlier projects with a view to its imrediate irrplerrentation in the context of.our terrpora.cy refecto.cy. 'Ihis project had a rather short-lived existence.At the end of the first five days, I could see that it called for further revision.But let rre ex plain.

The First ProjectMy intenticns were of the best.'Ihe fonnula is familiar to the

point of being trite: oontinuity with the best of traditicn, openness to the concrete exigencies of the i.nnediate local situation.In my initial project, I failed to achieve an ideal balance between the two.

Atterrpts to ensure "continuity with traditicn" can sanetimes result in too material an atterrpt to retain the letter of the law.I had made a careful study of our venerable Cistercian refecto.cy prayers, and rather hoped to main tain major sections of them relatively intact.So let us now examine the gen eral structure of our traditianal dinner and supper prayers, secticn by sec ticn, and see how, in my initial project, I atterrpted to maintain a more or less parallel structure in the dinner fonnula.cy. Perllaps it will help the reader if he has before his eyes the outline of this first project, pp.40-41. As for the notes 'Which now follow, these will be anly the sketchiest of de scriptions; nor will any atterrpt be made

to indicate all the scholarly ref erences necessa.cy for oontrolling many of the statercents.

Re fectory Prayers 35

Before Dinner a- Benedicite. I have the general irrpression that na.vadays most of us

think of the "Benedicite" in tellilS of the ordinacy introduction to our speak ing. In point of f act, there was once a time when the phrase was used in western rronastic circles to initiate ahrost any and eve:ry action (18) , wheth er it was a chapter meeting, the day 's work , or a rreal. The word itself is a tnmcated ra:ruest for a blessing. Ha.v should it be translated? Should it be translated? Should it even be retained? After pandering the matter at length,

I concluded that an overly literal attempt to salvage the "Benedicite" would be inadvisable. In the Latin formulacy , "Benedicite" presents dif f iculties

when thought of as a ra:ruest for a blessing: the blessing cores only af ter a series of versets , the short litany, and the lord's Prayer. Further, a number of correspondents have told rre that they think of the fo:rmula more as an invitation to pray - "I.et us bless the lord." 'Ihis is, of course , sanething along the lines of an acclamation-fonnula. As sudl, it seems to of fer an ex cellent way of beginning a ccnmunity action; and the liturgy abounds with in stances of versets used in precisely this way. I felt, then, that a fo:rmula similar to "I.et us bless the lord" , sung by the cantor or sane other desig nated person , would serve ·our pw:pose ve:ry well. At the same time , I felt

that we had here an ideal chance of introducing a certain discreet variety. What about a variable acclamation , the text of which would be brief , but in keeping with the liturgical season or the feast? The idea seared to be a good

cne. (It still seerrs to be a good one.) Accordingly , I proposed that the can tor sing a short introducto:ry acclamation , to be repeated irmediately by the a:mnunity. This is what we did -and it is also what we still do. So far,

however , we have used only a single formula, i.e., "Blessed is the man who shall feast in the kingdan of God! " OUr return to our pe:rmanent refecto:rywill doubtless mark the adoption of a certain number of other texts. In the

rreantirre, the present formula serves admirably to set the theological tone of the camrunity rreal: each of us is this man called blessed, because he is feasting at table with Olrist, in a rreal which has about it sanething of theeschatological messianic banquet in the kingdan of the Father.

b- Versets. The "Oculi annium" versets, followed as they are by the doxol ogy, seem to be a vestigial relic of the longer psahrody attested to by so

many of the early documents I examined, and in which psahrody seerred to playan inportant role. Accordingly, I did not hesitate lcng in recasting the

36 Re fe ato:rry Prayers

"Oculi amium" text as an English psalm-section consisting -with the doxolcx;JY -of four lines.

c- Kyrie.The short litany here or elsewhere enjoys no independent exist ence.Traditionally, it has been used in this and similar contexts to prepare for the Lord's Prayer, as Fr.JUNGMANN, S.J., rightly insists in his reveal ing article, "The Lord's Prayer in the Ranan Brevicu:y" (19). Since I had ev e:ry intention of preserving the Lord's Prayer as the rreal-prayer par excel lence ("Give us this day our daily bread•••"), it was all but inevitable that I think in tenns of retaining the traditional short litany.Which I did.

d- Lord's Prayer.For sare time, I have been enthusiastic about restoring the Lord's Prayer to its rightful place of irrportance in the rronastic Office-a place of irrportance not accorded it at the present tine.As a result, it was only natural that I should attempt sarething similar with the Lord's Prayer in the context of the refecto:ry prayers.Anyone.who has studied the use of this essential prayer in the liturgy knavs that its particular reso nance depends in large rreasure on the context in which it is used.Often, in deed, it is the ftmction of an embolism or sare similar carpanion-for:mula to suggest hav this or that petition of the Lord's Prayer applies to any given context.Just as there is an embolism attached to the Lord's Prayer in the Mass, extending the "Deliver us fran evil" clause, there would nav be an em bolism attached to the Lord's Prayer in the refecto:ry prayers, extending the clause, "Give us this day our daily bread," and shaving hav this petition ap plies here and nav. It would take rre too far afield to explain my historical and pastoral reasons for being opposed, even bitterly opposed, to praying the "OUr Father" for the rrost part in silence.In brief, my plan was to have the Lord's Prayer begtm by the hebdanada:ry priest, but joined in by the ccmm.mity at the operative words, "Give us this day." Finally, a variable embolism prayed by the priest would serve as the blessing formula.Being variable, this embolism would make it possible to relate the carmtmity meal to the feast or fast or liturgical season, or to sare other precise context. I also intended to avoid all those distressing discussic:ns about the exact nature

of our blessing-for:mula -is it a blessing for the food? a blessing for our selves? or a blessing for both? Further, I was not tmaware of the fact that there are brethren who feel that, tmless accarpanied by the sign of the cross, no blessing-for:mula will "take effect." It is certainly a truth which we cannot ever adequately appreciate, that eve:ry grace and blessing cares to


us through the love of Christ revealed upa1 the cross, and it is only natural that this fundarrental truth be expressed at tirres in cm.responding gestures. But 11¥ avn impression has been that1 in practioe, the refectory signs of the cross lend themselves too easily to a perfuncto:ry, pro forma kind of execu tion; and at times in the past they have even led to heated discussicns as to the precise direct.ion in which the cross is to be made (pace, 12th centu:ry Cluniacs and Cistercians)• My intention, then, was to leave the matter of making the sign of the cross entirely optionaL This is not to suggest any lack of concern on 11¥ part for the centrality of the cross in our CC11text.On the contrary, 11¥ purpose was to thrav this into new relief.The refecto:ry prayers would be prayed by the brethren turned tavard the refecto:ry cross.A rrode r a te bow at the do:xology would obviate the necessity for a profound bow made turned "in choir".Thus, fran beginning to end, the eyes of all could be trained on the cross, and the opening psalm verse, "The eyes of all look hopefully to you, O Lord," would take on a particularly rich resonance.In IT\Y avn rronaste:ry, this is particularly meaningful, because the refecto:ry cross, not having a corpus , takes en the fonn of the eschatolCXJical cross, the sign of the Son of Man caning in glocy v the herald that precedes the perfect can ing of the kingdan and the everlasting marriage-feast of the Lamb, the messi anic banqueto

e- The Blessing of the Ieader.'Ihe so-called "blessing of the reader" is no blessing of the reader at all, as is clear as soon as one examines the fonnulas.It is really a reduplication of the fo:rmula for the blessing of the rreal, or of the ccmnunity gathered for the meaL It seemed imprudent to anit any such blessing camected with the reading, however, since the refecto:ry reading is an :important part of the meal in our tradition.Would it be pos sible to integrate sudl a blessing with the embolism to the lord's Prayer?Pel.haps, but this would result in a two-rrember embolism petition which oould be a bit unwieldy.Besides, the reading :is, per se f

separable fran the meal. My solution, which has worked well, was to

have the presiding Superior add, after the embolism, a short blessing quite parallel to those used for the Night Office.'Ihese blessings, incidentally, are not intended for the reader, but for those listening" Accordingly, I shaped up a small reperto:ry of varia ble prayers to be used when there is reading at table.

Afte r dinne r a- C o n f i tea n t ur " The Lat.in text is, once again, a vestigial

fragrrent of a


longer psalm with doxology -the capiteUa or capituZum of certain early source material.Excellent as this text is in this place, I decided it would be better to substitute the universalist call to praise and thanksgiving of fered by Ps.116, since this psalm is only rarely said after supper in rrost of our rronasteries, where the brethren are free to leave at the end of a quarter-hour of public reading. I did, hCMever, introduce the psalm by the cantor's introductory invitaticn, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!" There is scmething a bit too abrupt about launching into a psalm with no pre vious preparation.

b- Agirnus tibi.The fonnula is concise and apt.But it seems a bit out of place if one examines the overall structure of the Latin fonnulary .A collect is the nonnal way of concluding a rite such as the present one. In point of fact, this fonnula occurs before Ps.50, which is follaved by the silent Lord's Prayer and a series of versets; and though it all ends in the "Retri buere" (designated as a verset in our liturgical books), this is a prayer for our benefactors rather than a prayer of thanksgiving.But the question of the collect is inseparable (I think) fran that of Ps. 50 and the procession to church.So let us consider the "bloc" of fonnulas connected with this p:rooos sicn.

c- Ps.50 and Procession.There seems to be a general disaffection for the after-dinner procession to church.Does this procession have any real theo logical significance? Probably so, since it appears tine and tine again in so many of the sources.Early d.ocmtents, hCMever, speak not of a procession to church, but of a procession to the a l ta r .Evidently, there is here a ccn scious attenpt to link the carrm.mity meal with the Eucharistic banquet:and this should provide us with much food for thought.At the same tine, rrost cantors are persuaded that there are few things more trying to the patienoo of the conscientious cantor than the after-dinner procession to church.Dif ficulty is also caused by the fact that a number of the brethren have to remain in the refectory for dishwashing and connected chores, and this sare tines means that only about half of sore cannunities are able to take part in the cannlmity visit to the altar.There is the further difficulty caused by the lack of variety in the psalm and versets; they can be prayed all too eas ily in a :routine manner.Hav then

could we shape up a rrore prayerful, func tional fonn of thanksgiving, and make clearer the riches navadays only im plicit in the

traditional p:rooossian to church? The answer, I felt, lay in

Refectory Prayers 3

using variable prayer texts which would errphasize the Eucharistic thenes in herent in the traditional fonn:ulas, and in introducing a short litany-prayer which would cover the sarre area covered by the post-Ps. 50 versets with thep rayer for benefactors, and the versets f or the departed and for absent brethren. 'lhe result was a new arrangenent of fonnulas: a short litany con sisting of variable petitions detennined by particular events, and ccncluded

by a variable collect of the "Agimus tibi" type. I was decidedly happy withthe idea of the variable litany. 'lllere would be , of course, standard petiticns always at hand -petitions for the poor, the hung:ry, for benef actors, for the departed in general; but it would also be possible to use petitions

occasioned by death notices received in the noming mail, or by events on the local or international scene. All in all, the psalm-litany-coll ect arrange ment seened a good one.

Before Supper'llle general structure of the Latin fonnula:ry is identical with the cne

for dinner. At the present time, hc:Mever, supper is a "celebration" considerably less anple than dinner; and even the thanksgiving af te:rwards is prayed by

each indivi.dual qua individual, whenever he happens to f inish his meal. 'llle prayers before the meal , then, invited revision in the direction of

sanething rich, but less anple. 'lhis. was an excellent opportunity, I felt , for restor ing to our prayer reperto:ry the traditional blessing-prayers of the biblical type, "Blessed be God, who has • • • " 'llle structure of this kind of prayer is sinq;>le but theologically profound. God is first praised because of sane cneof his precise interventicns in Holy Histo:ry, or because of his mercy, his un f ailing goodness , etc. 'lllen his blessing is invoked upcn us -the notive of this request being the actions or attributes alluded to in the opening phrase of the prayer. In order to provide a meaningful setting for this blessing for mula, I had it preceded and follc:Med by an acclamaticn sung first by the can tor and then repeated by the rest of the brethren.

On the follc:Ming two pages you will find the original project, but without any of the variable texts meant to be prayed by the hebdanada:ry. Sles of such texts will be given in the final pages of this article.

(:

Refectory Prayers

F I R S T P R O J E C TFor all the following prayers , we remain turned toward the refectory cross, making a moderate bow only at the doxology, "Glory be to the Father etc."BEFORE DINNERThe Cantor sings the following acclamation, which all repeat after him :

B El 0 a cm 1e1 0 g ' IIBLESSED is the man who shall feast in the kingdan of God! ij.IBI Q ..I

C:

1- The eyes of all look hopef ully to2- You o-3- Glo:ry be to the Father, and4- As it was in the beginning, is nav,(;

you, pen to

and ev-/

0 Lord, * AU continue, your hand singing every- the Son,

thing.er shall be,

IOI c0 If 00

n • b •1- and you give them their food in due season . Cantor I.ORD, have rrercy.2- and satisfy the desire of ev'- :ry living thing.3- and to the Ho- ly Spirit.4- world without end. A- rren.

The hebdomadary priest prays"- - --- + o ' l e l ' - - - - - - -'- - ' " e ' a 8 - - - - - - - t l the first part of the Lord 's------0 -,,, , ;;;;;;-,:--------0---......0.....,.---tt- Prayer. We join in at the placeAU QiRIST, have rrercy. Lord, have rrercy.Hebdomadary OUR Father, who art in heaven ,

hallowed be thy narre; thy kingdom care;

indicated.

thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.AU GIVE us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespassesas we forgive those who trespass against us ; and lead us not into terrptation ,but deliver us f rcm evil.

The hebdomadary continues the prayer with a variable embolism, at the end of which we answer Anen. If there is to be reading at table, the presiding Su perior asks for God 's blessing upon us, and we answer once a.gain, Arren.

AFIER DINNER

The Cantor sings the following invitation to thanksgiving, which all repeat:

le a a· IILEI' us give thanks to the Lord our God! ij.

3- Glo- ry be to the Father , and to the Son ,4- As it was in the beginning, is nav, and ev-er shall be ,

/

•

II


The Cantor intones Ps. 116, which all continue to the end of the doxology./

1- Praise the lord all2- For stead-fast is his kindness

you nations; *tavard us ,

I

& \ SI tl0 8 e

II1- glorify him, all you peoples!2- and the fidelity of the lord en- dures for-ever.3- and to the Ho- ly Spirit.4- world without end. A- rren.

One of the Cantors sings the peti tions of the following short litany, to which we answer:

t \01CJ II 8 a

a ' O ' I 1e1

I

a 11a

a' o'./

1- IDRD, have rrercy. 2- I

CHRIST, have rrercy.The short litany is concluded with a

e. IS i e I i a e ' a·

II

aolleat, to whiah we answer Arren .

3- IDRD, have rrercy.

BEFORE SUPPERThe Cantor sings the following invitation, whiah all repeat:

LET us bless the lord our God!ij.The hebdomadary priest prono unaes a variable blessing prayer . The Cantor then sings the following, whiah we repeat after him.

c. e a ·0

'IHANKS be to Q:>d ! 1.-J •If there is to be reading at table, the presi ding Superior asks for God 's blessing upon us, and we answer Amen.AFTER SUPPER, and so often as we do not pray the prayers at table in aorrmunity, we ask for God 's blessing and thank him aaaording to the graae he gives us to pro:y to him and thank him .

Irrplerrentation of the First Project

In its original fonn, the f irst project had a rather brief existence. Im

plementing it involved next to no practical dif ficulties. Yet , after a day or two, the:r::e we:r::e indicaticns that the:r::e was sorrething amiss. To be rro:r::e

speci fic, a mmber of b:r::eth:r::en began suggesting (perllaps "suggesting" is too weak

a word .• .) that the new fonnularies we:r::e too long. I was f u r i o u s. But

only for a tirre.

42 Refeatory Prayers

How oould the canplaints about excessive length be reasonable , when, with the exception of the prayers before dinner , the new fonnularies were radically shorter than the oorresponding Latin ones?

With a little ref lection , I began to see where the trouble lay. It was a question of the psalrrody before and af ter dinner. True , I oould easily over whelm anyone with proof after proof that psal.rrody has always played a prepon derant role in m:nastic refectory prayers .• •Or at any rate , al.nost always . I oould not forget, for instance, that Cassian speaks of omitting the pre-rreal psalms so of ten as an Of fice oorres just before the repast. I also grudgingly had to admit that, for many centuries , the "psalrrody" has been reduced to vestigial f ragments - at least in the Cistercian and Benedictine tradition .

'!hen it began dawning upon rre that It¥ inoorporation of the "traditional psalm

ody" into the rrealtirre prayers involved no real psal.nody. 'Ihe verses I hadchosen were certainly beautif ul ones, and rich with rreaning: but these non-va riable texts were , I had to admit , no rrore than a gesture -a too material gesture -in the direction of genuine psal.nody. Our Br. Michael was right:Why, af ter all, have psalrrody in the refecto:ry , when the brethren have just

oorre f rom Sext? It would have been better had nw careful analysis of nw sourcesbeen accanpanied by a bit rrore camon sense.

So I drew up a second project. As it tumed out, a nurrber of the brethren preferred the original, rrore ample fonn. But even they seem reasonably well satisfied with the later version, which seems to be proving its worth in this particular rconastery. I undersoore again : in this particular nrnaste:ry. Else where , this local project might be an unmitigated disaster.So I speak only for Gethsemani.

The Second Project

'!he omission of the vestigial psalrrody entailed a certain nurrber of concx::mi tant changes. In the prayers bef ore dinner, for instance, the srort litany , which originally fonred the bridge between psalrrody and the · I.Drd' s Prayer,

had to go. Exactly the same happened in the case of the prayers af ter dinner, so that the thanksgiving nCM oonsists only of a single variable prayer saidby the hebdomadary priest. I still rather regret the disappearance of theaf ter dinner litany , since it provided the occasion of praying for a nurrber of intentions of eve:ry sort, and in a way which injected a note of spontanei ty and f lexibility into the rrealtirre prayers . I also excised the supper ac clamations. Iet us nCM glance at the seoond project.

(:

Re fector y Pra yers 43

S E C O N D P R O J E C T

We Y'emain turned towaY'd the Y'efeatory cross duY'ing the pruyeY's befoY'e and af teY' meats .BEFORE DINNER

The CantoY' sings the foZ Z owing , which we repeat :

1e1 ID! a · IIBLESSED is the man who shall feast in the kingdom of God! ij .

The hebdomadary pY'ie st pY'ays the fiY'st part of the LoY'd 's PY'ayeY' . We join in at the p Z ace indiaated .Hebdomadary OUR Father , who art in heaven ,

halla.ved be thy narre ;thy kingdom ooire ;thy will be done an earth as it is in heaven .

AU GIVE us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespassesas we forgive those who trespass against us ; and lead us not into terrptation ,but deliver us f rom evil.

The hebdomadary continue s the p Y'ayeY', adding a vaY'iab Ze emboZism, to which we ansWeY' Amen. I f theY'e is to be mading at tab Ze , the pY'esiding SupeY'ioY' asks foY' God 's bZessing upon us, and onae a.gain we answeY' Amen .AFIER DINNER

We ansWeY' Arren to the pruyeY' of thanksgiving by the hebdomadary .BEFORE SUPPERThe hebdomadary pronounces a vaY'iab Ze b Zes sing pruyeY' , to which we answeY' Arren. I f theY'e is to be Y'eading at tab Ze, the pY'esiding SupeY'ioY' asks foY' God 's bZessing upon us, and once a.gain we answeY' Amen .AFI'ER SUPPER, and so of ten as we do not eat together in community , we askfor God 's bZ essing and give him thank s aaaording to the g raae he gives us to pray to him and thank him.

BEFORE DINNER: EMBOLISMS

SAMPLE TEXI'SOF VARIABLE PRAYE

Sunday : GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven , and grant that your San , Jesus Cllrist , our lord,who rose from the dead and ate with his disciples , may even nc:M be with us as we gather for this neal .This we ask through the sarre Cllrist our lord. R. Arren.


Weekdays: GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven,and grant that we who are filled with good things fran your open

[hand, may never close our hearts to the hung:ry, the haneless, and the 'Ihis we ask through Christ our Lord. R. An'en. [poor.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven, and grant that we who hunger and thirstas we walk through the barren desert of temptation,may drink at last with joy from the fountains of the Savior. 'Ihis we ask through the sane Christ our Lord. R. An'en.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven,and grant that we who gather here in fellowship of faith and love, may take our food with gladness and simplicity of heart.'Ihis we ask through Christ our Lord. R. Arren.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven,and grant that we who eat the fruit of the work of our hands may always live together as children of Mother Church, gathered like olive plants around the table of the Lord. 'Ihis we ask through the sane Christ our Lord. R. Arren.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father.in heaven, who by the blood of your Sonestablished peace between heaven and earth; and grant that we who gather for this rreal may, in sinplicity of heart,taste with joy the peace of Christ.'Ihis we ask through the sane Christ our Lord. R.Arren.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven,who have sent your San among sinnersto change falsehood into truth.Bless us as we gather in fellowship to share this rreal, and grant that we may ever feastan the pure bread of sincerity and truth. 'Ihis we ask through Christ our Lord. R. Arren.

GIVE us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven, who have sent your Son to share our pain and sorrc:M . Bless our table and our camrunity,and tum into eternal joyeve:ry tear shed throughout the world for the sake of love.'Ihis we ask through Christ our Lord. R. Aman.

AFI'ER DINNER

WE give you thanks, O Lord,for these and all your other blessings. Grant us always the gift to be grateful, and deepen our desire

to share with all rrenthe good things we receive fran you, 0 Savior of the world! Who live and reign forever and ever. R. Arren.


WE thank you, Father in heaven,for your bounty f ran which we have received. May your f ace ever shine upon us ,to give us peace and joy both nCM and evel'.IIDre. This we ask through Olrist our lord. R. Amen.

We give you thanks , o lord,for your abundance f ran which we have receivedy and for the love you have placed in our hearts, O Savior of the world!Who live and reign forever and ever. R. Amen.

BEFORE SUPPER

S unday

Monday

Tuesday

Friday

BLESSED are you, 0 lord,who, m the evening of your resurrecticn , opened the eyes of your disciples.Grant that we who nCM break bread and eat together, may recognize your presence in our midst, O lord!Who live and reign forever and ever. R. Amen.BLESSED are you, 0 lord,who love the lCMly and the poor!Grant that we may always find place at your table with the hungcy, the blind, the poor, and the lane y 0 Savior of the world!Who live and reign forever and ever. R. Amen.

BLESSED are you, 0 lord, who have the words of life!Grant that we may not live by bread alme,but by eve:ry word that cc.mes forth f rom your rrouth, O Savior of the world!Who live and reign forever and ever. R. Amen.

BLESSED are you, 0 lord,who became obedient unto death!Grant that our hearts may ever echo with your words , "My food is to do the will of him who sent rre ,to accarplish his work." R • .Arren.

BLESSINGS BEFORE THE READING

AND may the power of God's living worddwell in us and make us fruitf ul. R. Amen.

AND may our faith be strengthened, our hope deepened, by the reading we are nCM to hear. R. Amen.

AND may the sane lord ever open our heartsto love and understand his ccnmands. R. Amen.

AND may the sane lord illumine, waken, and strengthen our hearts to preserve his word in pure f aith and love. R. Amen.

Gethsemani Fr. Ol:rysogonus WADDELL, o.c.s.o.

1j

46 Refectory Prayers '

NOIBS

1. "Session du chant liturgique en fran s:Bellefontaine, 15-17 noverrbre 1966," in Liturgie 2 (1966), pp. 100-102.

2. "La langue et la chant:Aspects d'une evolution," ibid., 3 (1967), pp. 61-88.

3. A rnirreographed "hors de camerae" publication of St-Andre, Bruges.'Ihe first issue appeared in 1966; succeeding issues will appear at an irregular terrpo.

4. 1£ndcn - 01.icago 1958, pp. 214-240.5. In La Maison-Dieu 18 (1949), pp . 7-33.6. In the series BibUaa, published at Bruges, 1964.A certain

am::Junt of the material in these two volurres is actually by P. de CORBIAC, A.'IURCK, and still other collaborators.

7. Pauli Warnefridi ...in sanatam regulam, Monte Cassino 1880; also pub lished at the sane place in the Bibliotheaa Casinensis, IV: Florilegium Casi nense, pp. 1-173.

8.F.dited by R.MITI'ERMfu.r..ER , O.S.B., Expositio regulae ab Hildemaro tra dita (=Part III of Vita et regula SS. P. Benedioti una aum expositione regu lae a Hildemaro tradita), Regensburg 1880.

9. Expositio in regulam B . Benediati, reproduced in PL 102.10. Edited by L.ALI.ODI, O.S.B., Petri Boherii in regulam Sanati

Benediati aomnentariwn, Subiaco 1908.11.Accessible, so far as I knav, only in the rare edition, Regula

S. Bene diati awn doatissimis et piisimis aommentariis Joannis de Turre Cremata... Coloniae 1575.12. Op. ait., Antverpiae 1644, pp. 880-980.13.Vol. I, Stuttgart 1900; Vols. II-V, M::>nte Cassino 1900-1912. 14. N .41 (1962), pp . 28-31; n.43 (1963), pp. 43-44.15. Krefeld - Traar (Gennany) 1958.16. 'Ihe Office is probably rrost accessible to the general reader in the

Frendl verson, in I:bm E.MERCENIER, o.s .B., La priere des gZises de ritebyzantine I , 01.evetogne 1947, pp. 199-206.17. Peter Pauper Press, M::>unt Vernon, N.Y. 1966.18. Abdingdon Press, Nashville, New York 1966.19. Ccnfirned by the Cansilium Janua.cy 30, 1967, Prot.n.A31/36.20. For a useful resurre of the p:roblemg carmected with the

"Benedicite", and for a number of helpful bibliographical references, see the article by Dan D::>natien de BRUYNE, O.S.B., "Enoore le Benediaite" , in Revue benefdiatine 35 (1923), pp. 129-142.21. Included in Pastoral Liturgy, N .Y. 1962, pp. 191-200;

the pertinent passage is found on p. 192.

47

THE SACRAMENT OF RECCNCILIATICN IN THE MNASTERY

Introducto:ry noteWhat we have to say may be said in a few sin;>le 'WOrds. 'Ihe reader,

then, should not expect to find here an account of sane experiment already carried out, or a detailed project for the final adaptation of a rite.What follCMS is only a series of prcposals whose purpose is to suggest the direction to be taken in further research.Discussions by our ccmnunity will decide whether or not these suggestions will result in sane concrete project.'Ihis essay, then , marks only the starting point.'Ihe rest might cane later.All this explains the style intentionally adopted for this paper, which raises questions rather than answers them, and which, while remaining within a clearly defined area, refers by way of allusicn to many related matters.

A prdJlem

In the preface to the editicn of the RituaZe Romanum which was to have been published in 1614, the preparato:ry carmission made the folla.ving remark concerning the sacrament of penance:

'Ihe rites and ceremcnies of the sacraments take place openly and in a public manner.This sacrament (of penance), ha.vever, is to be ad ministered in secret. (Sacramentorum ritus et cererroniae palam et publice fiunt, hoc autem sacrarrentum. secrete administratur.)

In brief, then , the sacrarrents in general are celebrated before the whole world, but the sacrarrent of penance is administered in secret.

Ml.at is the purpose of this sacrecy? What is it that should make this sac rarrent be _an exception? And if this sacrarce:nt is an exception, should this be a matter of regret? 'Ihese are questions we should ask ourselves.

Public and liturgical penance or reconciliation (but not necessarily pub lic ccnfession)

W: all kna.v ha.v the histo:ry and evolution of the sacramental rites have knav:n various fluctuations and rreanderings before becaning definitively fixed in their present fonns.Of all these rites, it is that of the sacrament of reconciliation which has

undergone the most changes in the particular (sec onda:ry) fonns in which it has been practised.W: have no wish to examine this evolution here (innurrerable studies on this subject ab01.md, and more than

48 The Saarament of ReaonaiZiation

abound! ) • let us be satisfied only to make special mention of the histo:ry, nature, and meaning of that ancient fonn of penance which was so burdensare and severe, and whim was knCMn under the narre of "seccnd baptism" and "pub lic penance." We presume that , at the present tirre , eve:ryone is suf ficiently well info:rrred, and that there are no misconceptions about the term "public

penance." As Fr. Joseph PASCHER writes, "We cannot be too careful about rid ding ourselves of the confusion which has lasted for too long a time" (1) .

There are instances of "a recital of one's sins in the presence of the entire asserrbly" ("pronunciatio iniquitatum in conventu totius Ecclesiae") , either by the sinner himself or by the priest standing at the ambo. But this sort of public confession seems never to have been general, or practised on a large scale, and for a ve:ry long period. We shall not be wrong in af firming that alnost always, if not constantly, the canfession in the strict sense, that is to say, the actual avcwal of one ' s sins , took place "in secret." This mani festation of one' s sins took the form of a consultation with the bishop orthe priest, who then passed judgn:ent an the matter, and decided arron.g otherthings the advisability of the individual's being enrolled in the ordo poeni tentium, and being assigned a penance proporticnate with the sins ccmnitted.As a result, cnly that part of the sacrament called by us the "penance" or the satisf action or the eiatian (in the terminology of the Eastern Church, which remains SO ClOSe to the ancient discipline in thiS matter I epitim ) was of ficial, public, and solerrnly integrated into the liturgical

celebra tions , especially those which took place during lent.

This discipline had for its purpose more the ccmnunity prayer an behalf of the sinner than the iaticn of the sin by the sinner himself . This distinc ticn entails more than just a dif ference of enphasis.

Perllaps we should render full justice to the ancient m:nastic tradition, with its by no means rare practice of the avcwal of one 's sins in the pres ence of others -the ancestor of our chapter of f aults. The distincticn be

tween interior sins and exterior cnes represents a later practice, and is a kind of imitation of the distincticn made in ecclesiastical penance between peaaata aapitaZia (gravia) and peaaata Zevia.It should also be :remarkedthat , for rronks , the practice of public ccnfessian was in no way q::posed tothe practice of spiritual fatherllood. Each and eve:ry rnc:::l1k could do the minimun, whim consisted in recognizing and declaring oneself a sinner.

-The Sacrament of Reconciliation 49

It is i.nportant that we keep in mind the real reascn for the initial con sultation with the bishop or priest, and the nature of the judgment fonnulat ed. It pertained to the bishop or priest to decide whether the sins carrnitted really called f or penanre of a public nature; and the ccndition f or this kind of penance was verified only in the case of a sin which would have occasioned a strong public reacticn ("non debet imponi nisi pro peccato quod totam can moverit utbem").Lists of the various sins of this type were drawn up, and

these lists grew longer as tin:e went en. The Rituale Romanum recamends tothe priest that, even if a hidden sin is an extremaly serious cne, he shouldnot i.npose a public penanre (2) .

There has also been much discussicn about collective or , better still, group confession , both in East and W:!st. An indication of this kind of con fession is the Confiteor and the Miserea tur, follaved here or there by

the bestc:Mal of sacrarrental absolution.

But time moved an. At a later date, we hear Pope St. I.eo observing that private confession in secret was a greater aid to spcntaneity, and furthered the more f requent reception of the sacrarrent; while, at the sarre tin:e , the ears of others were given no cause f or scandal: ''ccnfessio sec:reta solis sa rerdotibus • • • tune enim plures ad poenitentiam poterunt provocari si populi auribus nan publicatur canscientia conf itentis" (3) .

Nevertheless , let us listen to Mgr. BA'ITIFOL.

"In actual fact , antiquity conceived of penanre as a second bap tism, surrounding it with solemnity and, still more , with severity. It :regarded penance not only as a remedy rreant to restore the lost health of the individual, but as a social discipline f or mainte nance of the Olurch. For all these :reasons, it gave penance that public nature which we of today have such great dif ficulty in un derstanding. For us , who are rrodem men - and, in this sense, men have been rrodem sinre the 7th century -the Church has suppressed the public nature of the sacrarrent. The Olurch has suppressed the social and disciplinary character of penance by distinguishing by making a distinction between the intemal forum and the extemal forum. The Church has ab01.mded in her attention to the individual, moral, deeply interior and intimate nature of penance, which ,though it :remains essentially a second baptism has also becane a rreans to perfection for the baptized. The Olurch has adapted the ancient practice of penance to nev.r needs and canrepts. I.et us avoid ccnfusing the distinctions intrcxlured in the course of histo:ry"(4) •

50 The Sacrament of ReaonaiZiation

In Af rica there have been , up to the present day, rreetings for the purpose of public confession. (The practice , havever, seems to be dying out.) 'Ihese gatherings must be prcperly understocrl, havever. The matter and the circum stances of the accusations are extrerrely characteristic of the Af rican cul ture; and the rite itself is extrerrely interesting. Its purpose is to identi fy and delimit the danger , after which it tries to destroy the evil, and ut terly uproot it and eliminate it; it tries to check the consequences of the misdeed, re-establish the right order which has been troubled, and, f inally, give peace to the worried conscience and calm the roused emotions. The entire rite is in function of the concept (which we would call "magical") of the vi olation , or the f ault, or the culpability, or the sin. This concept is proper to the mantality of the Af ricans and to their very specif ic rroral sensibili ty. Of still greater irrportance is the

idea of the Af rican's life within the bosan of his family, clan, or society; of the sane irrportance are his duties tcMard other merrbers , living or dead, toward everyone with whan he shares a relationship based an ties of a cc:rcm:>n life and blocrl. The Af rican is con scious of living within a human and cosmic solidarity.

The presence and behavior of each individual is reckoned to inf luence in sare way, and for better or worse, the entire milieu into which he is inte grated and within which he draws his life. In return , each man has the heavy

responsibility of ensuring for his milieu and for his o.v:n people as much hap piness as is possible. Expressed negatively, this means that he must "walk straight" in such a manner as not to be found at f ault, and not to set into rrotian anything which would bring with it the destructicn of his people.

What value should we assign to such a visicn of man , of things, of sin? Not everything about it is perfect. As regards sin, we knav that the sense of sin has undergone a considerable evoluticn throughout the course of hunan history. The magical cancepticn of a fault as an exterior act, the trans gression of a prohibi ticn or a taboo - this is an idea we have in ccmron with the ancient Jewish people, just as we also have in c:x::mron with thema keen appreciation of the solidarity anong rrembers of cne and the sanepeople.

A significant e;xarrple

'Ihe follaving little story can serve as an example of our mentality.Since 1964 , there has been at Kinasha a small organizaticn of rrothers who

The Sacrament of Reconciliation 51

do catechetical work . They take in hand the religious fonnation of a

small group of children. Their initiatives in this area have been declared to be of ccnsiderable interest and benefit for the pastoral ministry. Let us listen to the observaticns of Bishop JAOOI', who says: "I

still remerrber the rrother who was explaining at the weekly ting ha.v she went about preparing the children for their first ccnfession. The children first weregiven the necessary catechetical instruction, which insisted on the ideaof reconciliation with the U:>rd. Then the entire group went to the church. The catechist was the first to enter the ccnfessional. She was careful to leave the curtain undrawn, so that the children could see her.

Upon receiving absolution , she made the sign of the cross, and was surprised to hear the children clapping and shouting with cries of joy which grew louder as she left the confessional: the children were rejoicing to see her be caning once again the friend of God. She told all this with a si.rrplicitywhich bore itness to her living faith." (5) We are used to looking at

1nthings only general approximations and at a distance, so that we of ten by-pass -without taking note of them -details of behavior which have adeep signi-ficant value. 'Ihe action or gesture itself may appear to be in significant , but it has its roots in an attitude ta.vard life in perfect hanrony with a doctrine which is lived out and passed on to others in and through cne ' s personal life. Such a manner of acting becanes a living respcnse, an assent of faith equivalent to the little hebrew word "Amen", when it is pronounced with all one ' s heart and with all one's religiousaf fectivity. This exarrple makes us aware of our need to express what we believe in the depths of our heart. It would be regrettable if we could not orientate and inspire our research in this general direction. In this

particular instance, it seems to us remarkably prcphetic that this responsecarre spontaneously fran little children , just as in the Gospel (cf. Mt 21,16 ).

'As the Constitution on the Liturgy tells us , "The practice of penance should be fostered in ways that are possible in our CMn times and in dif

ferent regions, and according to the circumstances of the f aithful; it should be encouraged by the authorities mentioned in Art. 22" (Art . 110).1hese details are not without value. We shall here speak directly only aboutthe various possibilities of implementing them in a monastery. 1he

monastic context favors this, we believe, at least under certain conditions. It suffices, if we must justify such a proposition, simply to refer to a single

l52 The Saerament of ReaonaiZiation l

text f rom the Aats of the ApostZes -a text which, in the setting of the

nonaste:cy , can be lived to the maximum in all its deep theological irrplica tions: "'Ihey continued steadf astly in the teaching of the apostles and inthe ccmnunion of the breaking of the bread and in prayers {Aats 2,42).

Eccl esiola in Ecclesia 'Ihe nonaste:ry is a camrunity, a f amily whose rrenbers are brothers governed

by the law and the presence of Christ. We do not, of course, wish to t:ryto experience the sarre kind of intimacy to be found in one 's natural f amily; we fonn a f amily which belongs to a dif ferent order. But let us take care not to think of "spiritual family 11 and "eschatological family" as synonorrous with "angelic" or "disincamate", or as camoting a collectivity of individ uals who are indif ferent to the presence of others, and who preserve so:rre kind of a collective anonymity. Under no conditions should we think of our selves as being surrounded by irere "neighbors". No, we must be absolutely persuaded of the f act that we are living with, for, and am:ng our brothers , participating in , and sharing with them the sane life:-stream that f lows f rom Christ. 'Ihe blood of Christ pulses in us just as it does in our brothers,giving us all life, and rising up to him as one living and life-giving breath. We should nCM be able to realize that all our virtuous habits as well as our least ref usal of love (what demands love makes, even though it is always f ree, gratuitous! ) in sate way exert an inf luence on the health of the living or ganism of the body of Christ, and af fect progress in the wo:rk of our sanctif ication. It is a question of eve:ry act, be it interior or exterior, and irregardless of whether the ef fect is felt directly or not. As Fr. HAroNG,

c.ss.R., asks , "Can one rrenber be disinterested in the health of the entirebody?" He goes on to af f inn, "'Ihe ncre authentic, stable, and profound one's cmversion is, the rrore seriously will me t:cy to be a living, active nerrber in the Cll.urch. He will have a sense of solidarity" (6) . Such a staterrent speaks in a special way to the heart of eve:ry Af rican.

Ccnfitebor • • .in toto corde ( Dt 6, 4) et in congregation , in sacro conventu For :rreeting God and encountering our brothers , the place par excellence

is the worship of God. It is in worship that the people called together by

God is fomed and receives the addition of new members. Consequently , all who participate in the same worship should present themselves only with hearts in one accord, and with a conscience which is tranquil and at peace ,


and full of spiritual enthusiasm ( cf . Lumen gentium, 12; Mt 5,23-24; Sir 28, 5f f ) .

As Fr. HARING writes, "Already the sacraments in the Old Testament were ordered to worship, to the worthy praise and celebration of the divine holi ness. The sacrarrents of the New Testarrent assure not only the exterior purity of worship, they also provide the canditians for the perfect , interior ad oration of God in Jesus Olrist. To praise Yahweh rreans to worship in ccmnan , to recognize him in the sight of the entire ccmnunity of Israel, to proclaim and bear witness to one's avn personal experience of God ' s salvatian as re ceived in the midst of this people to which we belong by birth" (7) . In all

truth, then , 'l.'1e ought not to be af raid to place emphasis an the social char acter of the African Olristian.

Reccnciliatian with God and with the Olurch To quote Fr. HARING yet again , "For the Olristian , sin not only endangers

or ruins personal salvaticn; it also signif ies, albeit with various shades of rreaning, opposition to the salvation of one's neighbor, a diminuticn of thefullness of salvaticn in the Mystical Body , a weakening of the kingdan of God

in the world. Each sin increases the power of evil which rises up in opposi ticn to God's sovereignty, until the final victo:ry of Olrist" (8) .

We wish to ercphasize that aspect of sin which our "magic" ccncept of a fault (to the extent that this concept is sound) allCMs us to grasp with a:maximum of vital realism. Sin means a withdrawal into self ; it rreans isola tion; it rreans a rupture of life-giving carmunity (carmon-union) with God, with the world, and with one's brethren. For us Africans, a greeting is a sign of a twofold intention: it is a declaration of the pleasure to be found in ccmnunicating to another one's avn peace and security, and the enthusiasm that results fran knCMing that one is in deep agreerrent with eve:rything at eve:ry possible level; the greeting is , at the sarre time , a means of finding out whether the other person will make your attitude his avn, whether he will

feel and act tCMards you in the sarre positive , edifying (aedi ficatio! ) man ner. This rreans a real rreeting of hearts of people who really knCM each oth er in the deepest sense of the "HCM are you? Are you well?" We then under

stand hCM it can happen that peeple saretirres avoid meeting each other, so as to avoid having to greet each other insincerely; or hCM it sanetirnes happens that such a meeting, though it involves pain , and costs much ef fort, becares

54 The Saa!'a.Jrlen t of Reaonailiation

the kairos, i.e., the :m::nent of salvation, when crnsciences rnce again find peace, and recrnciliatirn is effected. To be crncemed for reconciliation is a duty of both justice and charity. 'As St.JERCME expressed it, "You should never be really happy if you cannot regard your brother charitably" (9).

Paul ANCIAUX writes: "The ecclesial dirce:nsirn of that Christian penance which leads to reconciliatirn with God (and this means full restoratirn of life-giving carmunion with Christf and to the carplete destruction of sin, clearly appears in the sacrarrental rite... 'Ihe necessity and the significa tion of the role of the Church in this sacrarrent have been affinned and ex pressed rrore and rrore clearly by Christian traditirn, to the extent that the various aspects of the role of the Church in the life of the Christian and in penance have been recognized and appreciated" (10).

'Ihe faithful asserrbled together in each local church would perhaps becare rrore conscious of these truths if their mentality could be changed a bit, and if they were asked to contribute their prayers and effective presence in the recrnciliation of their brethren. The Council invites us to do precisely this.

"'As regards instructioo., it is important to i.rrpress rn the minds of the faithful not oo.ly the social consequences of sin but also that essence of the virtue of penance which leads to the detestatioo. of sin as an offense against God; the role of the Church in penitential exercises is not to be passed over, and the people must be exhorted to pray for sinners" (11). This would be a concrete way of she.Ming that the Cllurch of God, holy as she is, is struggling in this world against the fact of sin, that brutal reality which Scripture presents as a sickness insidiously spreading throughout the very world which we must win for God. Sin is certainly a persoo.al thing, insofar as it issues fran and is rooted in self; but it also coo.cems others, because our relationship with God also essentially includes our relatioo.s with our neighbor. Man

is not aloo.e in God's sight; he is a i:reniJer of his race, a child of his people . The love of God unites and gathers together, while sin divides and separates (12)•

I do not wish to be overly critical, but it might be remarked that there are sare who have an incarplete understanding of the nature of coo.fessioo.. Since the coo.fessioo. itself is secret, the sigiUum

(seal) and liberty of conscience mean no rrore than not being knCMn or recognized by the crnfessor,


and not being seen by others when one goes to the confessor to ask for

recon ciliation. It is not a big step to go further, and persuade oneself that the rrore important confessions in one's life should be reserved for occasional oonfessors who depart af ter having heard all the things which have caused usshame. This kind of mentality points to a real malaise which should be de nounced for what it is. It is a subtle thing, and perhaps this is why it can so easily be overlooked. But if we exclude all others in our thinking about the sacrarrent of confession , then we are cutting ourselves of f f ran the in tercession of the "saints" ("saints" being understocxi in the Pauline sense of the word) ; and the Fathers have said that this intercession is the very life of the Church. There have been periods in the history of the Church

, when it was the deacon who solemnly presented to the bishop the penitent who wishedto beg for pardon! For many of us, the "Church" has been reduced, in our thinking, to only the priest who enjoys the paver of the keys.

All the preceding remarks should allav us to understand the irrportance of the social dimension of the sacrarrent of penance.

What can we do in our monasteries? Several things could be envisaged:

1- While the actual confession of one's sins would always remain secret , it would be desirable that each celebration of the sacrament of penance in the :rronastery have the support of the prayer of the carmunity.

a- Without calling for any radical change in our present custans, we

could agree an sane rreans of drawing the carmunity's attention to the f act that sareone is preparing to go to confession. (His identity need not be known.) It should be pointed out, of course, that to say that one is going to confession is the same as :recognizing before the whole Church the fact that one is a sinner; it is equivalent to asking for the prayers of the

Church, and asking to be :reintegrated into the carmunity. Thus infonned, thecarmunity would accept the :responsibility , and would include this intention in the Universal Prayer.

b- If it were decided to change the layout of the church, would it not be possible to build a special place for confession? This would be placed between the normal place f or the baptistery (which does not exist in our mon asteries) and the high altar. Here we wish to give no precise details, ex-

56 The Sacrament of Reconciliation

cept the follc:Ming: 'Ihe ccnfessor and his :r,:ienitent would take their places at the spot indicated, in loco patenti, aperto, even though the confession

itself would remain secret and under the seal. The :r,:ienance and the absolution could be proo.ounced aloud in the presence of the others. • • In this way, we could say with St. JEI01E, "The priest does not :restore a rrernber to health until all the other rrerrbers have first wept together for him. A f ather easi ly fo:rgives a son , when the mother pleads for the child of her am. wanb"(13) . Then , af ter having made satisf action , we should thank God for the blessings :reooived. This is only no:rmal.

2- While maintaining intact the sigittum confessionis and the principle

of cx:mnunity prayer on behalf of the penitent, we also see the possibility of a case in which a more ample f onn of :reconciliation could possibly be advised, in order to ef fect a total cure and a carplete :reparation of the evil. It will pertain , of course , to the abbot, to the prior• • •or even to the spiritu al f ather to errploy the :requisite discernment in deciding whether this fonnof reconciliation should be adcpted. Let rre explain •.

Rerrerrber all that has been said above about the manner in which we should think of our life as lived within the f amily circle into which we are insert ed through rronastic profession; about our special relations with our breth ren; about the bonds of love and af fection which establish us and unite us all with each other and with Olrist. If , then , we are conscious of dependingupon God not only as an individual, but fundarrentally as a member of society , with which we fonn a single collectivity, solidarity, it should be very clear that, arrong other sins, every sin carmitted specif ically against the order of charity, every f ault cxmnitted against one 's brother, vet mente vet praeser tim opere (e.g., criticism, unf avorable prejudice, anger,

hatred, rancor , calumny, jealousy, lying .• .) is sure to trouble the order and hannony of the carmunity; it is sure to do hann to the spirit of concord; and, to a greater or less extent, it necessarily af fects the well-being of the carmunity. It produces a breach , and estrangerrent. Things are seen only f ran a distorted viewpoint. In certain cases ti.rrE can rid us of certain kinds of spiritual sickness; but in other cases, this f ault against one's brother can mark the beginning of a cooling of one's charity, and can be a :real obstacle to spiritual progress. It can even happen that sarecne will go to confession in or der to accuse himself of having carried an a quarrel, or of having vexed or

The Saarament of Reaonailiation 57

hanned another, without even having had the slightest idea of first being re

conciled before he presents himself for confession. Can one really believe

in the approach we f ind in the Gospels? Of course, we say, it is always pos

sible to reach an understanding with the good God • • • and disregard our neigh

bor while we are at it! So we keep hitting against the same cbstacle. We

all knCM, of course, that the situation is not always as tragic as the one

just described; we knCM, too, that the thorns of daily life will always be with

us , and that the Lord permits these dif f iculties in order to tl:y us. As

Karl RAHNER writes, "In the circle of Christ 's disciples, peace repends not

so much on the perfection of the brethren , as on the possibility for their

repenting their f aults and ceaselessly obtaining pardon." (14) NCM, this is wisdan! Only peace and f raternal love can make one 's lips pure (af. Mt 18, 15-18.21-22.34; 5,21-24; Lk 17,3-4; Sir 28,2 ff; Lumen gentium, 12a). We all likewise knCM hCM dif ficult and extremely delicate a task it is

to pardon another person, and to reassure him in a manner that he really understands that one harbors no grudge against him. We

should pay close attention to

our ONn attituc:E and to our manner of pardoning our brother! We have in

the Gospel a 'Whole little procedure of f raternal correction. Each stage is

des cribed on the basis of the result of the correction , the behavior of the

of fender, the importance of the presence of witnesses. There is an echo

of this in the Rule of Saint Benedict. I believe that similar

:reconciliations could be ver:y well ef fected person to person , or in the

presence of the ab bot, or the spiritual father, or two witnesses, or the

entire ccmnunity, ac cording to the circunstances. Sacramental

absolution would then be given to the one 'Who has asked for it , and for 'Whan

the prayers of the brethren have been of fered in unanimity of heart. If

this is done, charity -always patient and long-suf fering -can only be

:rekindled. Instead of being feigned, it would

becane rrore delicate and profound.

If we are to be able to obtain pardon , we should of fer all the guarantees

of our sincere :repentance before the Church , who, through her prayer, and in

the name of God, consecrates and puts her seal on this moverrent tCMards con

version. She stands ready to guarantee our pardon and the ccmplete absolution

of our sins by the Lord.

As Saint Ambrose wrote so well, "The Church is made up of two categories:

those 'Who do not knCM 'What sin is, and those 'Who have stopped sinning. Peni

tence destroys sin , 'While wisdan avoids it" (15) .

Our Lady of Kalahari Translated and adapted at1'.7 -- .. 11 .r _ -/ '1 --- -·- -·-- _1 /l _ ...L1_ _ _ _o

Fr. Edward MUNUNU, o.c.s.o.

s

58 The Saarament of Reaonailiation

NCY.I'ES

1. J.PASCHER, L 'Evolution des rites saaramentels, (Lex Grandi 13), Pa ris 1952, pp.21 ff.

2. 'Ihis advice can be found in alm::>st all versions of the Ranan Ritual. 3. St.LEO, Letter 168, 2, in PL 54, 1211.4. P.PA'ITIFOL, Etudes de theologie positive, Paris 1907, pp

.212-213. 'Ihese words undoubtedly appear to be a little too harsh.We wish to draw from them only what is of positive value for us. As J. PASCHER says, op. ait.,p.24, "The thought never cane to anyone in the Church to disclaim either the rrore ancient or the rrore recent manner of conferring this sacrarrent." VE are always free to redisoover and cultivate the older elements which might be of great spiritual profit to us • In so doing, however, we need not be exclusive or unilateral in our thinking.

5. Bulletin de l 'U.M.C., n.164 (October 1966), Bruxelles, p.204.6. B. HA"RING, C.SS.R., in Pastorale du pah/, Tournai 1961, p.93.

II

7. Cf. B. HARING, ibid ., p.97; P.DRIJVERS, O.C.S.O., Les Psaumes (Le atio Divina 21), p.95.

II

8. B.HARING, op .cit., p.103.9. St.JEROME, Comm. in Eph. , III, 5, in PL 26, 520B.10. P.ANCIAUX, Le Saarement de la pnitenae, lDuvain -

Pari 3 pp .194-195.11. Constitutio de Saara Liturgia, Art. 109b.

1963,

12. See the article by A.VINCENT, O.P., "Pech dans l'A .T.11 ,

in the Lexique biblique; see also the notices under the sarre title in J.J. ALI.MEN and X.LEON-DUFOUR, Voaabulaires bibliques.

13. St. JEIDME, Dialogus aontra Luaiferianos, 5, in PL 23, 159B.14. K.RABNER, S.J., and collaborators, La Paroisse..., Paris 1961,

p.57.15. St.AMBinSE, In Luaam, VII, 96.

-

59

MEALTIME PRAYERSOUR LADY OF 'IHE ASSUMPTION - NEW

MELLERAY

The earlier artiale in this issue, "A Zoaal Projeat for Refeatory Prayers", pp .28-46, had already been typed and printed when I reaeived a aopy of an other similar projeat for mealtime prayers. The bibliaal inspiration of these prayers, their theologiaal depth, and their sirrrp liaity and beauty are evident -so muah so that these texts need no further introduation. Their author is Fr. BENEDICT, a monk of Our Lady of New Melleray, but terrrporarily at Our Lady of the Asswrrption, Ava . Our reperory of prayers in the mothertongue stands in need of many suah texts; and it is to be hoped that Fr. Ben edict will make many further aontributions.

-Fr. M. ChrysogonusSUNDAY

Blessing OUr Father • • .

O RISEN Savior, you revealed yourself to your disciples at the breaking of the }:>read to renew their f aith . Nourish us nav, that we may be strcng to share your suf fering on earth, and so also share your heavenly banquet.

Thanksgiving BLESSED be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, a gen t;l.e Father and the God of all consolation , wro comforts us in all our sor rows, so that we can of fer others, in their sorrows, the sarre consolation that we have received f rom God.

M:NDAY

Blessing OUr Father • ..ALMIQI'IY God, you gave Adam eve:cy seed-bearing plant and eve:cy

fruit-bearing tree an earth to be his food. Bless this food of ours nav, that we may understand and cooperate with your Plan of creation Il'Ore fully. 'Ihanksgiving O LORD, our lord, how great your Narre in all the earth! 'Vhatis mm that you are mindf ul of him? Yet you have made him little less than

a god, ltlade him lord over the work of your hands , set all things under his feet. O lord, our lord, hav great your Narre in all the earth!

'IlJESDAY

Blessing OUr Father .• •ETERNAL Father, Jacob prepared a savo:cy rreal for Isaac and re

ceived the blessing of the f irst-bom. We ask you to bless us at this rreal,

that we may grow Il'Ore into the likeness of your f irst-bom San , Jesus

Christ.

60 Mealtime Prayers

'lhanksgiving BLESS the IDrd, Il¥ soul; bless his holy Na:rce , all that is with in rre! 'Pis tenderly as a father treats his children, so the IDrd treats those

who fear him; he kncws what we are made of , he rerrerrbers that we are dust.Bless the IDrd , Il¥ soul.

WEINESDAYBlessing Our Father • • .

O GCD, your Wisda:n provided Israel with manna and with water f ran

the :rock. on their desert journey. Bless us and this food, that we may jour ney through this life under the guidance of the true Wisdom, Jesus Christ our IDrd.

'lhanksgiving GIVE thanks to the IDrd, call his Na:rce aloud, proclaim his deeds

to the peoples! He satisfied them with the bread of heaven; he opened the rock, the waters gushed forth to f low through the desert like a river. He led his happy people fOJ:Ward, to joyful shouts f rom his chosen ones.

'IlfURSDAYBlessing Our Father • ..

o I.ORD God, you comnanded your people to care into your house, and to eat and drink and rejoice before you. let this rreal unite us joyfull y in the family spirit and true charity of Christ.'lhanksgiving HOV I rejoiced when they said to rre, "I.et us go to the houseof tte IDrd." Pray for peace in Jerusalem, peace inside your city walls. Since all are Il¥ brothers and f riends , I say, "Peace be with you." Since the IDrd our God lives here , I pray for your happiness.

FRIDAYBlessing Our Father • .•

I. ORD Jesus Christ, you had conpassion an the crcwd who had been follONing you three days, and you multiplied their loaves lest they faint on the way. Strengthen us by this food to follav you wherever you lead.

'lhanksgiving 'Il1E IDrd is Jl¥ shepherd, I lack nothing. In rreacb-Ts of greengrass he lets rre lie dcMn. 'lb the waters of repose he leads rre; there he revives Il¥ soul Surely goodness and rrercy shall follON rre all the days of Il¥

life, and I shall dvell in the house of the IDrd forever.

Mealtime Prayers 60A

SATURDAY

Blessing OUr Father • • •O I.ORD, in a vision you told Peter to kill and eat, and not to

call 1.m.clean what you had cleansed. Be present with us assembled here, that we may eat and drink to the glory of your Name.

'Ihank.sgiving I SING your praises, God my King; I bless your Name forever and ever. Patiently all creatures lc::x:lk. to you to feed them throughout the

year; quick to satisfy every need, you feed them with a generous hand.Righteous in all that he does, the IDrd acts only out of love.

New MeZZeray - Assumption Abbey, Ava Fr. BENEDICT , O.C.S.O.

61

AN' OPEN LEI"I'ER ABOUI' THE .MANDA'IUM

The letter, as I .received it this af ternoon, did not bear the above title . I t bore no title , I t was meant to be no more than a note addressed to the members of our loaal Ge thsemani litur>g y corrmittee . Like many other similar liturgy committees , we are much taken up with the question of the Mandatum in our communities in general , and espeaial ly in this communit y in partiau Zar.Fr. Matthew , who wrote this letter, share s our concern. He addressed his le t ter only to our loaal committee . He coul d have addressed it just as weU to the Orde r' s Liturg y Commission. Or even to anyone and everyone concerned for the fruit ful renewal of our Orde.r 's liturgy. So please conside r this an open Zetter.I s it necessary to point out that Fr. Matthew makes one, and only one point? Obvious ly, any balanced discussion about the Mandatum should cover many re lated areas aonae rning which Fr. Matthew says nothing . But what he say s is important, and applies equaU y weU to other areas of our liturgy and mona stia obse.rvanae .

-Fr. M . Chrysogonus

Dear Liturgy People:Feast of Saint Francis

It seeirs to rre that one of the areas you are going to have to be oon oemed with in your work is the area of fear.

It is rey feeling that fear is back of much of the dif f iculty we have with various foi::ms and rites M=I1 at best have to deal with serious doubts

about their CMn manliness, and nen of our tine are no exception. As a matter of fact, fear of the feminine is a characteristic of our age. '!his may explain hew it is that nen shy CMay f rom sonething which is obviously an expressionof love or af fection. Thus , half of the "dif ficulty" with the Ma.ndattnn maynot be with the structure of the rite, the oererronial, etc. at all, but rath er with its basic elerrent: that it is a mark of love. And nen may be af raidof this. '!hey would never admit this, but I wander if it is not part of the picture?

Many of the things about which they say , "It has no rreaning for rre; it is just a rite, a fonn, a ritual; it is just a ce:renony etc., etc.," -may these things not rather be expressions of love which they fear to make?Or at least fear to make "really".

I think this needs to be considered, for it seeirs to rre that tmless we are willing to consider it, we may pass over what is a f ield of genuine dif f iculty. I have the feeling that we are going to have to ¥X>rk with this if

62 An Open Le tter about the Mandatum

we are going to respond to the grace of our time. I believe that as an Or

der and as individual conmunities , we are going to have to do better in the wey of kindness , consideration, thoughtf ulness, love. '!his whole section needs a lot of attention. And not because we are an unkindly lot, a crude and cruel bunch! I think the reason may rather be founded in fear: that many, or too many, are af raid to be gentle, to shCM love and af fection. It is thought "soft" or "ef feminate" or sorrething for "girl scouts".

It follCMS , of course, that many who think of themselves as "he-men" are really rather cCMardly in day-to-day living, literally af raid to be what they would like to be , and pretending a great deal, parading, shc:Ming of f muscles in one way or another. 'As men have always done. But I think we are going to have to have sarething a little rrore substantial than that. I think we are

. going to have to have real love , and love expressed in thought, word, and deed. W'7e made obvious, clear, plain. Not mush , not sentimentality, not e rrotion , but genuine love expressed in care , in ooncem, in consideration and thoughtfulness, in service gladly given.

To rre it would be a real blunder to get rid of sorrething like the Manda tum, for it is a dramatic expression of love that no one save the deaf , di.mb and blind could miss. To rey mind, it is rrere pretence to maintain that it is out-of-date, out of toudl, out of context, useless, anachronistic, not for our day and age, irrpractical, etc. , etc. To get dCMn an your knes and wash your· brother's feet is a humble and hurrbling act of loving service,

and I maintain that this .cannot be denied, or missed, except by those who wt to miss it. And the reason they want to miss it? Fear • .Fear of shc:Ming love.

Unless , of oourse, they have no love in the f irst place! Wi.idl is·also possible!

In any case, I would ask the Liturgy People to take pains to note this matter of love and its manifestations, and not to be too quick to durrp

vari ous rites and f onns en the pretext that they have no rreaning. '!he rreaningmay be there and it may be very clear and be avoided like the plague. And the rreaning is IDVE .

It 's a cold-hearted lot we are, rrost of us! But the tines are changing, thank God. 'Ihe tines are manging. Are we?

M. Matthew

Gethsemani Fr. Matthew KELTEY, O.C.S.O.

Eucharist and Corrmuni ty 63

THE EUCHARIST AT THE HEARI' OF CCMIDNITY LIFE

The following is th6 text of a conference given by Fr, Gerard Dubois,O. C.S .0., at the liturgical congress held earZier this year at Orval, Bel giwn, July 18-20.

It might be well to use the title of this conference in order to delimit our precise subject matter.

Eucharist: The Eucharist is not just the Mass, even though it is only the Mass which this conference will treat of . This is not because of any lack of esteem for other aspects of the mystery of the Eucharist! Rather, these oth er aspects will be dealt with in a later conference , and will be better treated if the two conferences do not overlap. The title could have read, "The Mass at the Heart of Carrnunity Life"; still, the tenn "Eucharist" seerred preferable. It suggests a spiritual reality rather than a ceremony; and this f act is not without its advantages.

Carrnunity Life: We are dealing, then , with the cenobitic fonn of the mo nastic life. It makes little dif ference here whether this fonn of life should be thought of as a stage along the way to a more solitary life -a

workshop for one's fonnation in the anchoretic way of life -or else , on the contrary, thought of as being an end in itself , a realization of the penna nent values of carmunion. At any rate, the cenobitic life, even when thought of as a stage alcng the way, calls for a serious carrnitrnent on the part ofthe :rronk. It is important , on the other hand, to make the distincticn be tween cenobites and groups or colonies of hennits. 'We shall not speak di rectly of these latter.

'Ihe Eucharist at the Heart of Carrnunity Life: This phrase is at cne and the same time a question and an answer. An answer, because it is a tradi tional af finnaticn which calls for our imrrediate assent. But it is also a question; f or hcw are we to understand in which precise :rreaning this af f inna tion is really valid? And hcw are we to make our day-to-day

life correspond to this af f innation in the concrete? In other words, is

the Eucharist truly the foundation of our monastic life? Is it truly at the heart (a) of the mo nastic (cenobitic) life in general? (b) of the life as lived in a particular

64 Eucharist and Community

monastery? (c) of the life of brotherhood and cx::mnunion as experienced in a

particular monastery? These three latter expressions shav the three levels

to which our question is relevant: (a) the level of general principles, (b)

the level of the concrete organization of a particular monastery, (c) the

level of the spiritual life of the :rrerrbers of a monastic cx::mnunity. These

same three e:xpressions more or less indicate the threefold division of this

conference.

Moreover, if our question has any real rreaning, it is with reference to

the role played by the Eucharist in the life of the Church and in the life of

each individual Christian. It is this fundarrental point which we shall take

as our point of departure.

We are, of course, quite familiar with the role played by the Eucharist in

the Christian life. To use the e:xpressions fonnulated by Vatican II, the Eu

charist is the "source and surrmit" of the Christian life, its "root and cen

ter" (1) ; the Eucharist marks the m:ment in which our encounter with Christ

reaches its deepest level, since he is then really present in the vecy act of

his passing to the Father, drawing us after hiro in his "paschal moverrent" in

order to ccnmunicate to us his new life, and to make us sons in the Spirit.

"He who eats 1T\Y f lesh , and drinks 1T\Y blood, abides in me and I in hiro" (Jn

6, 57 ) . Is it not the reception of the Eucharist to which the

Fathers have linked the IT\YStical life, even in its highest fonns? They speak ,

for in

stance, of the sobria ebrietas -an expression alluded to as early as Saint Cyprian (2) .

The Eucharist likewise expresses and realizes the unity of the Church; or,

better, it makes the Church. For the Church is not just a grouping together

of rren whose union would be ef fected on the basis of siroilar relaticnship to

one and the same person by neans of syrrbolic rites. No, the Church is the

Body of Christ. It is the Body of Christ receiving the inf lav of the grace

of Christ , and living in the irrpulse and moverrent of this grace, just as the

sacred hunanity of Christ -his body -was vivified by his divinity. The

Fathers have symbolized all this by borrowing the image f ran Psalm 132 -

the oil which f lavs daNn f ran Aaron's head to his beard, and even runs

daN:n. upon his rcbe. "And of his fullness we

have all received" (Jn 1, 16) . "In hiro

dwells all the f ullness of the Godhead bodily, and in hiro who is the head of

Euchari st a:nd Communi ty 65

every Principality and Paver you have :received of that fullness" ( Co l 2 , 9) • But what makes it possible for the Church to share in this grace of Christ, in this anointing which divinized his sacred hunanity? The Eucharist. 'Ihe Eucharist transfo:rms the asserrbly which celebrates it into the Body ofChrist , into the Church (3). 'Ihis is the foundation of the unity of the Church, since there is only one grace -the grace of the sacred hunanity of Christ, the grace of his Body.

But our incorporation into Christ is not perfect f ran the very start. It implies a transfo:rmation of ourselves, and this takes place cnly painfully and throughout all the ups and downs of the whole of one's lifetime. "The perfect manhood, in the mature :treasure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4, 13)

-this is still in its childhood. Renewal and gravth and increase are ef fected by the Eucharist. From Mass to Mass, f ran Easter to Easter, "we grc:M up in all things in him who is the Head , Christ" (Eph 4 , 15) , until the dawn of the eternal Easter.

All this is plain Christianity , and it is quite clear that anycne who

thinks he is called to the nonastic way of life can errbrace this fonn of life only if he remains a Christian. Was it not "to be saved" , as the e:xpression goes, that the first rronks buried themselves in the desert? Mcnastic spirit uality has always wished to be identif ied with Christian spirituality as :re gards its end, and even as :regards its principal :rreans ( 4) • We are cnly bap tized persons stanped with the hallmark of a certain absolute, who wish to live in a particular manner , fulfilling the exigencies and virtualities in herent in our baptismal vocation.

We say that we wish to live our baptismal vocation in a particular manner. Precisely! This marks the exact context for introducing our question. Would we not also have , then , a particular manner of participating in the great Christian mystery actualized by the Eucharist? It is true that one cannot conceive of the Eucharist playing less of a role in our life than in the life of other Christians. But must one af finn that this role should take en the same fo:rms , the same "incamaticns" , and involve the same f requency or:rhythm? The question should be raised, at least as a hypothetical question; in f act, it already has been raised (5) . I.et us pause here for a few mo

:rrents.

66 Eucharist and Commu:nity

I • A monastic rllyt.hm of Eucharistic celebrations? Certain persons have remarked that, since the monastic vocation is a with

drawal into the desert, this necessarily entails a certain abandoning of tre parochial and diocesan carmunities, a withdrawal fran their liturgical life. One has to' "f lee :rren" , as Arsenius says. We all :recall the exarrple of Saint Benedict, who lived in his grotto without being explicitly concerned for the sacraments - so much so that he was unaware of the f act that it was Easter (though it is true that , for all that , Benedict was preoccupied and taken up with the Lord!) .

If one thinks of the monastic vocation as belonging more to the charis matic oroer, the Eucharist could possibly seem to be sanewhat less irrportant. Does not grace rrean the prayer of the heart , prayer "interiorized" under the action of the Spirit? This prayer should be , of course, the heart of the en tire liturgy; but , per se , there would be a distinction between liturgy and prayer.

Because of his preoccupation with this aspect of "interiorization" , the

monk seems to be more concerned for the f ruitf ulness or the res of the sacra rrent , to use the jargon of the theologians, rather than the sirrple saaramen twn (or sacram:mtal sign) , or the celebration, or the rite.

The monk also tends more directly tc:Mard the parousia. He runs tc:Mard

that pole of histo:ry where the sacram:mts will no longer be necessa:ry. This is why he leaves the world for the desert, and seeks to make progress in the interiority of a prayer that beccnes ever more pure. He leaves to others the task of ef fecting the "incarnation" of the Christian rressage within the mass of human dough , with a view to the transfonna.tion of mankind.

Pure prayer, as well as the prayer of praise , pertains in a special way to the choirs of the blessed and the angels. In this sense , m:::mks would by preference be more concerned with the Divine Of fice, which would be "the suprerre e:ression of their specif ic charism and of their particular voca tion" (6) . We knav that the Holy Rule, like a good many other documents of this type, treat of this Opus Dei at

considerable length , while it scarcely rrentions the Mass.These a:re the chief reasons sarretirres advanced in order to shav that , for

monks , there is less need for making use of the Eucharist.But should we be in so great a hur:ry to draw such conclusions? The ex

perience of recent years suggests greater circumspection on our part. There

Eucharist and Corrmunity 67

was a f alse cptic whim tried to detennine whim is superior to the other, liturgy or contemplation? 'lhis f alse optic has been denomced arrply and at suf ficient length. This does not mean that no problem exists. There is a problem, as shall see in a rnanent. But to make too great a distinction between ecclesial ccmnmity and rronastic carrnmity, between Eucharist and interior prayer, or between Eucharist and Divine Of fice , 'WOUld surely riskf alsifying our optic and impoverishing our spiritual vision.

let us take up each of these three points in turn.The desert and separation fran the world

It is not the object of this conference to study the meaning and import of the separation fran the world whim rronasticism professes (7) ; but it would be exaggerated to hold that rronks separate themselves f ran the hier armical and sacranental Churm. The ccmnmities whim they fo:rm in the desert are no less Christian, no less ecclesial than other carrnmities.Fran the juridical point of view, of course , these rronastic carmmitiesshould not be assimilated to the parish or the diocese -it is not necessarily a priest who has the pastoral care of the rronastery; but is it not signi f icant that in the early days there was an attempt to connect the role of thesuperior or abbot with the mission of the apostles (8) ?

Besides, the first m:nks continued to attend the ordinary churches. It

was much rrore the daily life of the Christians fran which the nonks separated themselves, than their liturgical assemblies. When groups of asaatics or ccmnmities of cencbites grew larger , new murmes were built. But even thenwe see the Pachanian rronks, for exarrple, continuing to attend the village murm on Saturdays, while the clergy of the locale carre to the nonks to of ficate at the Sunday celebration. For these f athers of the aanobitic life, then, there was no rupture with the sacramental priesthood (9 ) •

Besides, is it not the very nature of the cenobitic ccmnmity to be a perfect image of the Churm as the reality of grace which she is? Horsiesius

, who was the successor of Pamanius , calls his carrnunity the vineyard of the Saints , God's avn f amily , the people of God (10 ) . Pamanius himself recog nized his ideal in the apostolic ccrnnmity at Jerusalem, the rrother-cellf rcm whim the Churm evolved and grew: "They were of one heart and one soul" (11) . We knav hav this therre has f ascinated monks throughout the

course of centuries, even to the point of becaning a "nostalgia", as one author has described it -though it is also true that this nostalgia hasnot always been f ree f ran a certain disesteem for the life lived by Christians


in the world (12). 'Ihe apostolic conmunity is also the ideal to which the counciliar decree Perfeotae aaritatis {n.15) invites us:"Ccrmon life, fash ioned on the nod.el of the early Church where the body of believers was united in heart and soul, and given new force by the teaching of the Gospel, the sacred liturgy and especially the Eucharist, should continue to be lived in prayer and the ccmnunion of the sarre spirit." If we think of the fact that our o.vn "fraternal living together in unanimity of spirit" (13) is stricter and imre intimate than elsewhere in the Church, it becares difficult to see why we should have less need than do others of the help and support given by the Eucharist.

Finally, let us call attention to the fact that, as D:m Jean LECLERCQ,O.S.B., has noted, all the m::nasti c authors of the Middle Ages "lived and wrote with the sarre conviction that the encounter between the mank and God • • • took place in the bosan of the Church: the Bride who will be revealed in all her glo:ry, that Jerusalem which is the goal tc:Mard which the rronk's effort tends, is already given, in faith, to rren here on earth. It is only by being united to the Church that each of us receives the Bridegroan's kiss" (14). This conviction, which has the support of theological reasoning, is not sub ject to obsolescence. What is true for others is no less true for imnks. Carmunities of monks, raised up and fonred by the Spirit though they are, need to becare the Body of Christ: they need the Eucharist.

It is true , perhaps, that we pay more attention than do others to

the ae velcpnent of all the virtualities inherent in each celebration of the Euchar ist.But this leads us to our second point.

'Ihe imnk, a man of interiorityIn point of fact, havever, there can be no question of reserving

for the monk a imnopoly with regard to interiority:each and eve:ry Christian is obliged to make the sacrarrent he has received bear its fruit under the action of the Holy Spirit. It is not in the nature of a sacrarrent to be an end in itself or a magic rite; and one of the leitmotivs of the Ccnstitutian en lit urgy is the stress laid an the conscious, active, and fruitful participaticn of everyone. Not the least of the fruits of the discussions which began in 1913 and revived with renewed vigor in 1959, is the fact that the concept of liturgy as an affair of interiority is nav a conviction fi:rmly anchored in the ve:ry depths of the cantenpora:ry rrentality (15).

Eucharist a:nd Corrorrunity 69

But we then have to ask ourselves whether rronks can really have interiori:!:x_ as their proper characteristic. True , monks pe:rhaps have a greater number of means for carrying out a type of celebration more apt to favor to the max imum the penetration of the myste:ry at a deep, interior level. For this, there are required special conditions of authenticity and saber restraint.These canditians cannot always be realized to the full in the parish -a point to which we shall return. But an the level of general principles, one can find no really valid reasons for making interiority the specific note of monasticism.

Havever, if the sacramental sign is at the service of the res, the interi

or f ruit of holiness, and is not an end in itself , this does not mean that we have recourse to the sacrament only when we feel the need of it. The Eucha rist is not a tit-bit to be passed out when one feels a bit hung:ry.

It is not a sinq:>le rite which produces grace , and which should be repeated onlywhen the individual has gotten all the nourishment he can get f ran the pre ceding spiritual exercise -monks being, of course, particularly slav at this, since they are experts at letting nothing go to waste! No, the cele bration in which the sacramental sign becanes visible , takes an corporeal fo:rm, is a manifestation of unanimity, of cx:mnunion in prayer and in the ser vice of God; this also has its avn proper value, but an condition that it is

experienced interiorly in a truly profound manner. For there is a specialpresence of Olrist "there , where two or three are gathered in his name" (16)

, especially if these "two or three" are celebrating the rnenorial of his Pasch.

'Ihe liturgical assernbly is likewise the sign , the "sacrament" , in sare sense, of the Assembly gathered an the eighth day, the Assembly of the heav enly Jerusalem: "You have cane to Mount Sian , and to the city of the livingGod, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the canpany of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens , and to

God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect , and to Jesus , mediator of a new covenant, and to a sprinkling of blood which speaks better than Abel" (Heb 12, 22-24). It is along these lines that tradition ,and especially the tradition of the East, has recognized the presence of theangels , especially during the celebration of the Eucharist. It is during the Eucharist that man is introduced into the world of the angels (17) . Eschato logical anticipation , angelic life: are these not specif ically monastic

themes?

70 Euahar>ist and Community

It can be cbjected, havever, that all this is also verified in the case of the Divine Of fice.

Eucharist or Divine Of fice?As a matter of fact, the Of fice is also -though less profoundly than the

Eucharist , the sacrarrent which makes the Church -a manifestation of the carmunity in prayer , a participation in the liturgy of heaven. 'Ihe Eucha rist, en the other hand, is no less a thanksgiving than is the Of fice.

There exists, then, between Eucharist and Of f ice, a profound unity. 'Ihe first part of the chapter which the Constitution on liturgy devotes to the Of fice (n. 83) sets of f this unity in high relief : "Christ Jesus , high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature , introduced into this earthly exilethat hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire ccmnunity of mankind to himself , associating it with his CM1 sing ing of this canticle of divine praise. For he continues his priestly work through the agency of the Church , which is ceaselessly engaged in praising

the lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She dces this, not only by celebrating the Eucharist, but also in other ways , espe

cially by praying the Divine Of f ice." This is precisely why we cannot make a distinction between Of fice and Eucharist of such a nature that the Of fice would be specifically characteristic of men.ks , while the Eucharist would not.

If we consider the question f ran the standpoint of the participation of the faithf ul , the results are little dif ferent. On the one hand, the Divine Of fice -no matter what the current practice in the concrete may be -per tains by right to every baptized person. The Constitution on the liturgy is explicit: Christ associates the entire cannunity of men with his canticle of praise , and it is by his entire Church that he continues to exercise this priestly functicn; and rronks cannot arrogate this function to themselves as their CM1 private property! On the other hand, though it is essential that cenobites gather for prayer in carmon, it does not seem that this or that particular fonn of cannunity prayer is inposed on them in virtue of the very nature of monasticism. History can certainly establish the origin and, hence, the monastic character of a number of the canonical Hours in present use (18) . This is because rronks, living as they did in cannunity, gathered for ccmnunity prayer rrore often than other Christians. They had to make all the necessary suitable arrangerrents for this cannunity prayer; and this is

Euaharist and Community 71

why the rronastic rules deal at such length with the Of fice, and so little with the Eucharist. It is only at a later date, and not without encountering a certain amount of resistance, that the prayer of the Hours was first im

posed on the non-monastic churches, and then , at a still later date, was recognized by the Church as her of ficial prayer to which priests and rnonks are deputed (19 ) . 'lbe Of fice has nevertheless retained, in its rnonastic context, certain characteristics, such as the integral recitation of the psalter per ordinem psa Zmorum. All this was quite natural, if we rerrerrber that, in the early days, each camn.mity was free to adapt its fonn of prayer according to its ccncrete situation and needs. Fran this point of view, and especially at the present time , when the Of fice is scarcely ever celebrated in parishes , rronks can be identif ied according to this or that fonn of prayer, and it is licit to call these fonns of the Of fice "specifically monastic". But , inthis area, we remain at the level of description, not at the level of def ini tion (20) . 'lbe habit does not make the m:::nk , but neither does the canonical Of fice! In virtue of what fundarrental principle, then , should the Of ficehave a more privileged place in the monk 's life than does the Eucharist?

What is the proper context of the question? If we thus tJ:y to see all this at depth , we can only take note of the pro

found hanrony and correlation between eucharistic life and monastic life. We

can discover no general principle to serve as a doctrinal justification for a mythm of celebration dif ferent f rom that of other Christians.

Does this :rrean that evei:y question touching on the rhythm of our celebra tions of the Eucharist is not pertinent , not ad rem? By no :rreans . But if this is a question for us , it is also a question for Christians at large. In this sense, we can say that we ask ourselves this question , not because we

are dif ferent f ran the others (in virtue of the essence of the monastic state) , but , an the contrai:y, precisely because we are like everybcx:ly else!We feel the sane prcblems which they feel, although in a context dif ferent fran their OIJil (we are nav at the level of life in the concrete) •

More precisely , the justif ication for such a question about the mythm of euchari:::;tic celebrations lies in our search to f ind a more satisfying equi librium in the spiritual life.

For we knav that the Eucharist, central and primordial though it is , is not the whole of the Christian life. 'lbe paragraph of the Constitution which

72 Euaharist and Community

we read a m:m:mt ago noted carefully that it is not only through the Eucha rist that Christ continues to exercise his priestly ftmcticn which ccnsists in his praise of the Father and his intercession en behalf of men.

It is even af finred in the first chapter of the Ccnstitution that "The spiritual life • • •is not limited solely to participation in the litw:gy" (n. 12) .

We might ask ourselves with regard to this, whether there has pe:rhapsbeen , during the last two decades , a bit too unilateral and overly exclusive insistence on the Mass. It is Fr. ROSUET himself who pointed this out at the French National Eucharistic Congress held at Bordeaux in 1966. The result of an overly exclusive enphasis on the Mass results in the depreciaticn and the abandoning of other fonns of piety. '!he Mass, he suggests, has becane a pan acea, "a magnificent ironument , but cne lost in the center of a vast desert void of all other fo:rms of devotion." What would a center be without its circumference? a fotmtain without its stream? a smmit without its slope?There is an alrrost total absence of participation by the f aithful in the

praise of the Of fice, and Fr. Roguet makes this absence responsible for "a certain lack of equilibrium in eucharistic piety , which has becare too an thropocentric" (21) •

From this point of view, monks have the advantage over Christians in the

parish. '!hey have the possibility of better respecting this equilibrium in the fonrs of piety approved and willed by the Church herself . '!his does notrrean that rronks are safe f rom every risk , and that they have no need sane

tirres to ask themselves questions just as others have to do (22) • The prd::> lem does not date f rom just today. "VE are no little astonished to note in tum the astonishment of a rronk of bygone days , in the 12th or 13th century , who was disturoed at the innovations introduced by the yotmg monks of that tirre. They were abandoning the recitation of the psalms for the celebraticn of Mass. "It should be remarked," he writes, "that where one nowadays cele

brates Masses, the ancients used to chant psalms. But young people no longer can stand lengthy prayers , they no longer have any taste for chanting psalms. They prefer multiplying the m:mber of short Masses. All this is not without its danger, and gives arrq:>le cause for apprehension • • • " (23) .

The psalms , in f act, have always held a major place in the spiritual life of monks. But there was also the hearing of the word of God, Zeatio, fol

la.ved by meditatio, oratio, aontempZatio, the praise of the choral Of

f ice,

Euaharist and Community 73

fraternal ascesis, wo:rk , etc.

Hence the possibility of there being a problem in the concrete. Just hav does one maintain or f oster an equilibrium between the various fonns ofprayer and other rronastic wo:rks? It is within this area that the question of the rll.ythm of our celebrations should finally find its proper cootext.

And this brings us to the second part of this conference.

II. At the Heart of our Daily LifeEver since the Crn.mcil, the Church has been raising questions about her

self and about her life. It has been pointed out that even though , for the believer , the essential problems are already solved , and the modalities of prcblerns are no longer so terribly irrportant, the essential role of f aith does not, for all that , dispense us f rom thinking about the "discipline"

of Christian life -if only with a view to deepening our personal carmitment, and making it more conscious and fruitful (24) .

We have a striking example in the case of the sacranent of penitence. A recent poll has shavn that there was "a serious , general malaise," a "wide spread disaf fection" with regard to this sacranent. It would have been pos sible, of course, to pretend not to reali:ze this general situation. In point of f act, when the question of our attitude tavard the sacrament of penitence was raised and studied, the result was a rediscove:ry of the ccmnunity cele bration of penitence, whidl makes it possible to see in its true light the rreaning and the p:rofundi ty of this sacranent. The French episcopate threup on took the responsibility and further initiative of regulating the practicein sudl a way that the result is not less f requent confession, but much bet ter confessions (25) .

It is quite true, of course , that we cannot speak of a "serious malaise"

with regard to the Eucharist; but, all due proportions being kept , do we not always have to maintain a sustained ef fort in order to make participation in the Eucharist more conscious and f ruitf ul? Otherwise, we inevitably f ind the situation in which there are -to use Fr. Roguet' s expression -"many Can munions, but few corrmunicants" (26 ) .

The hierardly , to be sure, never leaves us without directives; and we all knav hav, at the present time, she reccmrends f requent , even daily, Carmunicn

(27) . But we also knav hav careful the Church is to preserve the deep reali-

74 Eucharist and Corrmunity

ty and truth of the ritual action, for it is rnly insof ar as it is a

that a sacrarrent is ef fective: saaramentwn signifiaando aausat.

Is it not for a reason of this kind that the Church has f inally refused to accept the practice of a priest celebrating Mass several tines a day,

except for reasons of his pastoral ministry? We a:re told that Pope Ieo III (begin ning of the 9th centmy} used to celebrate as many as seven or nine Masses rn certain days (28} . Particular circunstances can explain this fact; but we knCM that, in the 12th centmy, the practice of celebrating two or three Mas ses rn certain feastdays was still tolerated (29} • A

centmy before, the Council of Selingenstadt had to fo:rbid the celebration of more than three Masses.

Our a.vn tendency is often to consider as perfect whatever we happen to be used to. In the present instance, we a:re doubtless correct to do so. But

this OUJht not to keep us f ran ref lecting an the reason behind our present practice. When we look at the histo:ry of Christianity, the least we can say is that the practice of the Church has been the most 'varied possible. What will be the practice 400 or 500 years f ran nCM, or even in a less distant fu ture? When it c:x::mas to follllS of piety, we can be absolute about nothing.Saint Augustine was well aware of this, and recognized the fact precisely

with regard to the problem of the f requency of Ccmnunian and liturgical cele brations. He ref used to tum the prcblem into a matter for strictly theolog ical debate. Yet, God knCMs the prof undity of Augustine' s understanding of the eucharistic 11¥Ste:cy! "Beside those universal practices which are binding on eve:cyone," he says, "there are other practices which vary according to place and region. Thus , sare people f ast an Saturday, while others do not.There are sare who receive the Lord's Body and Blood in daily Ccmnunian, while others receive Comnunion only an certain set days. In sare places,

Mass is celebrated eve:ry day; in other places, only an Sunday. For things of this sort, liberty with regard to the manner of observance should be the no:rm. For the serious , prudent Christian , the best possible rule concerningsuch things is to do what one sees the local church doing. If a practice is neither contrary to f aith nor of fensive to good morals , it should be regarded as being, in itself , indif ferent , and should theref ore be observed in a man ner in keeping with local custan" ( 30 ) .

In the narre of this sarre principle recalled by Saint Augustine, it would

•j

J

Euchari st and Corrorzunity 75

not be prudent at the present tine to depart f ran the current practice of the Church. But history ireans evolution , and there is nothing to indicate thatwe have already reached the terminal point of history ( 31) .

A twofold f ocal point of our day

It is easy enough, on the level of general principles, to af finn that there is a profound hannony between eucharistic life and monastic life, between Eucharist and Divine Of fice; but this does not irean that this is neces sarily true of ccmnunity life as organized in the concrete. '!he various cel ebrations of the Divine Of fice are attached to certain hours of the day which they sanctify: morning, evening, night, the dif ferent hours during the course of the day, bedtiire. '!he Eucharist , havever , is not attached to any particu lar tiire; it can be celebrated at any tiire of day. It f its in well at mid day, in much the sane way that the principal carmunity · meal is the noon :rmal. But the Eucharist can also be celebrated tavard evening, when its functioning of gathering everyone af ter the day ' s work is thravn into special relief : "Abide with us , O lord, for evening is care • .." At dawn, or at the end of

the night-Vigils with their therm of expectation , the eschatological di:rmnsion of the Eucharist is emphasized: "In the middle of the night, a cry was heard, ' Behold, the Bridegroom cares! 1 11 Again , when celebrated in the early morning, the Eucharist plays its role as viaticum, food for the day 's jour ney. Accordingly , the Eucharist is not attached, per se , to any particular

hour.

Fran a certain standpoint , this relative independence with regard to the cycle of tine might suggest that the Eucharist introduces into our day a dy namism dif ferent f ran that of the Of fice, a dynamism which can be reconciled with that of the Of fice only with dif f iculty. As a matter of fact , fran a material standpoint , the Mass usually coincides with one of the Of fices cele brated at a particular time of day. We may hope that this difficulty willf ind an easy solution by a better integration of the Of fice with the Liturgy of the Word or with the thanksgiving. '!here are sane, havever, who see such a fusion of two dif ferent liturgical actions as a debased, mongrelized fonn of liturgy ( 32) .

In point of f act , the opposition is only apparent if we rerrember that

the day is not just a single entity closed in on itself , and disconnected f ran the day which cane bef ore and the day which will care af ter. A day repre-

76 Euahari st and Community

sents one elerrent of a larger cycle which has Sunday for its pivot; and the week itself is only one elerrent of the liturgical year, which has the Pasch , Easter, for its center. NCM, the Eucharist is precisely the nenorial of the

Pasch. If the Of f ice sanctif ies the various hours of the day, the Eucharist is the link between all the various days and weeks, so that our

lives becarea continual passing to the Father, an tminterrupted Pasch. To use a carpari scn borrc:wed f ran the world of weaving, we could say that the Of fice makes up the daily of our camrunity prayer, mile the Eucharist makes up themich follllS the link between Easter and the parousia. Considered in this mu tual relationship, the two focal points of our day carplerrent each other, so as to fonn a hannonious whole. Each retains its a.vn proper nature , and ef fects its a.vn proper tmifying action.

Stmday and weekday celebrationsIt is also necessary that the Eucharist be celebrated in such a manner

that it appear in the ooncrete as the real or link connecting Easter with the parousia. 'Ibis means that the various weekday celebrations should not present the sarre aspect as the Stmday Masses, but should rather have arrore scber, less arrple style; for the weekday Masses are relative to the Stm day Mass, and are so many stages linking Stmday with Stmday. 'As the May25th, 1967 Instruction (n.25) points out, the Stmday asserril::>ly should manifest in a sovereign manner mat takes place at eve:ry Mass. This particular char acter of Stmday is also errphasized by opening the assenbly to the presence of other f aithf ul who care f ran outside the :rronaste:ry, thus tmderlining our union with the entire Church mich, an this particular day, is celebrating the Pasch of her Lord. This special character mich attaches to Stmday is also errphasized by the festive tone of the entire day, the Stmday joy and rest , other follllS of eucharistic worship, etc.

Is it necessary, as we saretimes hear said, to avoid the rnultiplicaticn of weekday eucharistic celebrations, so that the Sunday Meal can keep its place of praninence? In brief , is not the Eucharist the feast, the f amily retmian

par exaeU enae , which ought not to be celebrated too often, under pain of its losing sarewhat its ftmdamental character and meaning? 'Ibis questicn toudles an the area of traditicnal devotion , and falls within the context of the question we have dealt with earlier in this conference, when we discussed the evolution of Christian practice with regard to Ccmntmion and the celebraticn of Mass ( 33) . It is also a legitimate question f ran a doctrinal standpoint,

Eucharist and Corrmunity 77

havever, although it should not make us forget that the Eucharist is also food, the viaticum which is to sustain and renew us each day of our journey tavard the parousia. It is true, havever, that in a number of different ar eas, we still have to find the ideal ":rhythm" for detennining the flav of our present time.

III.Unanimity Manifested and EffectedIf the Eucharist is really going to be at the heart of our

cammnity life, it is not enough that it sirrply be celebrated; neither is it enough that this celebration fonn a hannanious whole with the rest of our day-to-day existence and the whole course of our life. It is also necessa:cy that the Eucharist reflect with fidelity the unanimity of the carmunity, and that it find its prolongation in the very life of this ccmnunity.

The Eucharist as reflecting the unanimity of . the carmunityThere is no question, of course, of upsetting or derogating

the rights of any particular individual. In this connection, the Church wishes the con science of each individual to be respected. But this is no reason for not insistently inviting the entire local carmunity to gather around o n e a n d the same Eucharist. The May 25th, 1967 Instruction develops along these lines the Vatican II Constitution, asking that the Sunday Mass be truly the assembling together of the entire parish carmunity. On· Sunday, there should be no private chapels, so to speak; no special Masses for certain categories of persons and particular groups. The same Instruction asks that Sunday Masses be rrn.Iltiplied no rrore than is necessa:cy, sirice Masses which bring together only parts of the carmunity no longer sufficiently have the character of a sign of the Asserrbly of the Kingdan (34). This same spirit could well in spire our CM1 manner of acting. The Instruction also asks that, so often as pastoral reasons or other reasonable causes do not intervene, priests should concelebrate (n.47).

More and rrore, the irrportance for the carmunity of its having a single celebration is being recognized.

The East, as we knav, has kept in general the ancient principle according to which there is only one altar in the church, and only one celebration of the Eucharist at that altar (35). "Take care to celebrate only one Eucha rist, for there is only one Body of our

lord Jesus Christ, and only one Chal ice by which we are united to his Blood; there is only one altar, just as

78 Euaharist and Community

there is only one bishop with the college of presbyters and deacons" (36) .So capvinced were the first Christians of the i.rrportance of a single celebra tion that, for scree of them, even pastoral reasons were insuf ficient to jus tify the multiplication of celebrations on the same day. It is very probable that, at the end of the 4th century, there re sane places such as Milan and Carthage where there was only one Sunday celebration, even though the sacred

edifice was able to contain only an eighth, a tenth , or even less of the lo cal Christian population (37) . 'Ihis evidently represents a sanewhat too rad

ical reaction. But , in our avn carmunities, would it really involve so much trouble were we to have only a single daily celebration?

But, at the same time, would this not rrean, as we sanetimes hear, avoiding Charybdis, but f alling foul of Scylla? Unanimity might be obtained by having only one celebration of the Eucharist; but this w:::>uld presuppose that all the

priests concelebrate. NCM, in sare rronasteries, it seems that grouping the

concelebrants in a special place -especially if the concelebrants are nu rrerous -accentuates the division of the ccmnunity into two categorie 9.¥E.an it furthers the unity and ccmnunion of all. '!he problems connected with oon celebration will be treated in other conferences, so only a few remarks are called for here. In actual fact, concelebration does not create this divi sion; it only makes it manifest. If there is a disproportionate number of ccncelebrants, this is because the number of priests is disproportionate to the enserrble of the rronastic ccmnunity. Since this is the true state of things, there is no rupture of the unity of the ccmnunity if ooncelebration s.irrply manifests the existing situation. can certainly raise many ques

tions about the manner in which this reality is expressed in the liturgical assembly -all the details of our ritual are not perfect! But it is nonnal that each one should share in the Eucharist according to his "order", accord

ing to his function in the Mystical Body of Christ. We nevertheless have to recognize the f act that the time has not yet arrived for the last word to be said about concelebration ( 38) .

Fran the point of view of the Eucharist as the sign expressing the can munity, should also have to speak about the style of the celebration. '!here should be left a certain latitude as regards the details of the rites, so that the celebration can be adapted to the local situation and can truly

ref lect the character of the ccmnunity. '!his is, moreover, precisely the desire expressed by the Constitution of the liturgy (n. 38) . '!his style will

Eueharist and Community 79

doubtless vacy according to the extent that the faithful fran outside the

rnonastei:y participate in the o:mnunity Mass.

'Ihe Eucharist effects mianimity'Ihe Eucharist is also the leaven of mianimity within the carmmiity.

In this sense, it is indeed at the center of carmmiity life. It fosters and effects this mianimity, in the first place, because it obliges each individual to take part in a canmon celebration. As Dem Adrien NOCENT, o.s.B., remarked last year at Taize, "We must take care to bridge the gap between ll¥ celebration and t h e celebration in and w i th an assembly of the

faithful•••• 'Ihis supposes an interior, vei:y demanding attitude. I am no longer cele brating the office frcm the rocment I think of it only as a devout, pious act; and I am no longer celebrating it when I turn it into ll¥ celebration. Evei:y true celebration has as its condition an effort to go and meet others at the sane tiEe that we go to meet God the Savior" (40)• This entails a renmicia tion of one's particularism; and such a renmiciation can do much to bring us far along the way of fraternal charity and openness to others.

'Ihis effort is not limited to the brief manents of the actual celebration. 'Ihroughout the whole of life, the Eucharist fosters and effects mianimity,and impels us along the way of charity. As one religious said in her reply to a questionnaire, "After I have received Ccmnmiian•••it is no longer pos sible to look an others with the eyes of an egoist; interiorly, I am drawn to look an others with the eyes of Christ•••I no longer have the right toclose IT!YSelf off in ll¥ CMr1 little private miiverse" (41). No sacrament acts autanatically without our having to be changed. It is precisely through our being changed that we "receive" the sacrament, that we interiorize its fruit of grace. If it were not for the Holy Spirit and the pc:wer of the sacrament calling forth our CMr1 personal effort, our Ccmnmiian would be to no purpose.We would remain at the level of the mere sacramental sign, without passing on to the Pes, the fruit of the sacrament. And it is the Pes which is the ultimate for the rronk , man of interiority! Carmmiion is not just a m:rnent

during the course of our day. 'Ihroughout the entire day, our Carmmiion fos ters and effects mianimity.

I said at the beginning that I would speak exclusively about cenobites. Nevertheless, I would like to close this conference by invoking the testi rrony of the anchorites. It is always enriching for us to listen to those

80 Eueharis t and Community

who belong to a dif ferent tradition. In this case, we are dealing with Nestorians. In particular, it is a certain 7th centm:y solitai:y by the name of Martyrius (or Sahdona) , who is writing to a brother undergoing terrpta tions to leave his monaste:ry. He exhorts him to deepen his faith and - this is remarkable, for a hennit! -it is tavard the Sunday assembly that he tums his gaze, in order to make him grasp all the profundity of the cenobitic life, and to convince him that he should stay where he is. Even

nCJ.fl, our hennit says, the Sunday assembly is the assembly of heaven tCJ.flardwhich all are tending, and tCJ.flard which all tend throughout the entire week . Can we not see in this description which Martyrius is about to give us the symbol, the sacrament of the nonastic life -that f light into the desert,in order to die nore perfectly with Olrist , and to tend nore ardently tCJ.flard the blessed resurrection , the future abiding City of which the Eucharist gives us a foretaste (42 ) ?

When you see your brethren assembled, evoke in your heart the assembly of the just who, at the end of time, will gather around our lord. Do you realize, my brother, besides all the other mighty things contained in the assembly of the saints, what great mysteries we can still see arrong them? Truly, the assembly is the dawn of the great day of the :resurrection ,when all the just will be gathered around our lord, fran eve:ry part of the world. Your assembly :represents the final assem bly of the just when they gather on the venerable day of Sun day, leaving their cells as so many tanbs, in order to careto the tenple of God, to enjoy the Body of the Lord , and to exalt God in choir, by praises and hymns, and with an un feigned charity!NCJ.fl , throughout the entire week , when they are enclosed in the tarib of their narrCJ.f/ cells, in mouming, in tears, and in the noaning of their hearts, they portray, so to speak , the whole period of time during which the just are imprisoned inthis world ..• ; as for the signal which calls them to the church, this represents the day on which the great trunpet will con voke all the elect f rom the four parts of the created world, to be with our lord, and to live with him in the joy and the de lights of the Jerusalem fran on high (43) .

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Mont-des-Cats

Fr. rard DUBOIS, O.C.S.O.

Eucharist and Community 81

NOI'ES

1. Lumen Gentium, 11; P11esb. Ord., 6; cf. 5; Const. de Sacra Lit., 10, etc.

2. Letter 63, xi. For Gregory of Nyssa, this theme is the equivalent of the theme of luminous darkness. Cf. J.DANIBIDU, S.J., P"latonisme et theoZo gie mystique, Paris 1944, IIIeme partie, para.3.

3.Actually, the assembly is already constituted as the Church fran the very beginning of the synaxis.The Church does not revert to the historical context 'Which existed prior to the institution of the Last Supper, 'When there was not yet a fully constituted Church.Christian initiation is per fected only through participation in the Eucharist, although baptism, which irrplies the wish for this full participation, already realizes the incorpo ration of the individual in the Mystical Body of Christ.Cf. H.DE LUBAC,S.J., Corpus Mysticum, Paris 1949, pp .103-104.

4. Cf. I. HAUSHERR, S.J., "Spiritualite rronacale et unite chretienne", in IZ monachesimo orientaZe, Rana 1958, p.19.

5. To cite only a feN examples, to which we refer the reader once and for all: Liturgie monastique et Ziturgie paroisiaZe = La Maison-Dieu 51 (1957);B.BESREI', S.O.Cist., "La liturgie manastiqre: ses fondements theologiques", in Le message des moines notre temps, Paris 1958, pp .221-247.See also the same author's article, written fran a sanewhat different standpoint, "Pourun renouveau du manachisrre", in Etudes 326 (1967), pp .545-562; A.HAilSSLING, "Ursprunge der Privabresse", in Stimmen der Zeit 176 (1965), pp.21-28; "Kanventamt und Privabresse", in Erbe und Auftrag 41 (1965), pp.294-304.The author has prepared a more ample thesis which has not yet been edited, Die Konventmess. Ihre Entstehung und ihr Sinn; Liturgie et monastere. Etudes 1,Bruges 1966; A.DE VCGIB, O.S.B., "Probl s de la messe canventuelle dansles manasteres", in Parole et Pain 20 (1967), pp .161-172. It is not justin publications of books and articles that this question is raised.In fact,this conference was written as a result of personal contacts and exchanges of vieN.

6.A.DE VCGLJE, art. cit., p.165. This could possibly be understood as applying only to cend:Jites.'We knav the reserves expressed by certain semi herernitical milieux with regard to psalrrody accarpanied by antiphons, chants•••Cf . EVAGRIUS, Parenetica (edited by FRANKENBEffi, p.561): "Take no pleasure in a multitude of psalms: this will only cast a veil over your heart." De oratione 85; the apophthegmata of Pambo and Sylvanus (quoted in CoZZectanea O.C.R, 22(1960), p.329 and p.332, n.4); the reply of the Chalde an monks to the Katholikos of Mossul in the 7th century: "It is not fittingthat ascetics who pray and weep in their cells should be distw::bed by the chanting of alleluias, psalms, antiphoos, and the hymns of children and of those 'Who celebrate the night vigils" (quoted in La Maison-Dieu 51, p.52).

As for Eusebius of Caesarea (Deman. evan.I, 8) and Cassian (Insti. Gen. III, 1-2), these writers take their inspiration fran ch.32 of

the Lausiac History , and look an the prayer of the Hours as a concession made to the weakness of those who are unable to devote themselves to uninterrupted prayer. It is by no means certain that this was really the thought of the first F.gyptian monks. (The affirmations made by Clement of Alexandria, Stromata VII, 7,40, and by Epiphanius, Apophthegmata 3, should be given an inte:rpretatioo different fran the one they usually receive). On this point, see Annand VEILLEUX, O.C.S.O., La Ziturgie dans Ze cenobitisme pachomien au


quatrime siecZe (not yet published)f Ch.6,7. Ch this theire, see the oollection of articles, La

separation du monde (in the series ProbZemes de la .religieuse d 'aujourd'hui), Paris 1961, espe cially the articles by IX:rn N. EGENDER, O.SoB. (en Eastern rncnasticism) and IX:rn J.LECLERO;J, O.S.B. (en vestem monasticism of the Middle .Ages).

8. This is done, for instance, by applying to the abbot NeN Testament texts which directly refer to the hierarchy. Cf., in Pachanian rronasticism, Vies coptes S 3 (translated by LEFDRI', in Museon 16, p.55, 1.11, 26-29); S 12 (ibid., p.378, 1.25); Bo 34 (ibid., p.105); Lib . Ors. 17 (citation of Jn 21, 1?) and 40 (citation of Acts 20, 28). In the vest, Regula Magistri 1, 196; 2, 23; 7, 6; etc. On this rule and other Latin documents, cf. Dan A. DE va;UE, La communaute et l 'abbe dans la Regle de Saint Benott, Paris 1961,p.133 ss.

It was from the bishop of Chalons that Saint Robert received his pastoral charge over the neN carrnunity of ct.teaux.

9. St.Pachanius, Vies coptes Bo 25 (translated by LEroRI', pp .95-96); Rgle d 'Hors . (translated by LEFORI', CSCO 160, p.85, 1.20-25); Vie arabe (ed ited by AMELINEAU, p.455)• On all this, see the thesis by Fr.A. VEILLEUX,o.c.s.o., referred to in note 6, above. Quite recently the idea of a return to the parish church has been proposed; cf. Fr.B.BESRET, S.O.Cist., art. cit. in Etudes (see above, note 5), p.557.

10. Lib . Ors. 28, 47, 53. Cf. the carmentary on these texts by Dan A.DE va;rn, o.s.B., "le rronastere, Eglise du Christ", in Studia Anselmiana 42, Rana 1957, pp .25-46.

11. Acts 4, 32.Cf. Vies coptes S 1 (translation by LEFDRI', p.3, 1.30).

'lhe congregation is the fonn of the apostolic life, ibid., p.186, 268-269 (=323). w= cannot reduce the Pachanian carrnunity to no rrore than a simplejuxtaposition of individuals, as has too often been affinred. Cf. Fr.A.VEILLEUX, O.C.S.O., op. cit.

12. Cf. M.-H.VICAIRE, L 'imitation des Apotres, Paris 1963. A rrore can plete bibliography can be found on p.8 of this work. As an exanple of this type of disesteem for the life of the Christian in the world, see CASSIAN, Collatio 18 (edited by Dan PICHERY, O.S.B., Sources chrtiennes 64, p.15).

13. WILLIAM OF ST.THIERRY, De natura et dignitate amoris, c.9, in PL 184, 395. 'Ihe entire chapter sings of the benefits of this living together according to the image provided by the first carmunity at Jerusalem.

14. Dan J. LECLERQ;J, O.S.B., Initiation a:ux auteurs monastiques du Mayen Age, Paris2 1963, p.233. Cf. p.232: "Also, one of the Christian realitiesabout whidl the rronks are rrost willing to speak, even apart f:ran works not dealing ex professo with the subject, is the world of the sacrarrents: it is through the sacrarrents that our rrost sure contact with God is effected, and this contact is the principle fran which all other enoounters with him derive

('Ihe Eucharist) remains at the ver:y center of the preoccupations of the monastic milieux."

15. Cf. the conferences of the Congress at Angers, 1962, Liturgie et vie spirituelle = La Maison-Dieu 72 and 73. See in particular the oonference by Mgr.VEUILI.Or . We knCM that the ancients, apart f:ran certain exceptions, SCM no opposition between interior prayer and litw:gical prayer. Cf., am::ing oth er articles, IX:rn J.LECLE:ocQ, o.s.B., "Culte litw:gique et priere intine dans

Eucharist and Community 83

le rronachisrne du Moyen Age" , in La Maison-Dieu 69 (1962) , pp.39-55, re-edited in Aux sources de la spiritualite occidentale, Paris 1964 , pp.285-303.

16. Mt 18, 19-20. '!he Life of Pachanius alludes to this text: Bo 184 (translation by LEFORI', p.196 , 1.30) ; cf. Regle Hors . (translation by LEFORI', p. 81) .

17. Cf. E. PETERSCN , Le Zivre des Anges (translated f rom the Ge:rman) , Paris 1954; pp.45-82 ; J. DANrELoU, S.J., Les Anges et leur mission, Chevetogne 1953,pp.76-91; Dan J. LECLERCQ, O.S.B., "Les Anges au Bapteme" , Paris 1945 , re-edit ed in La liturgie et les paradoxes chretiens, Paris 1963, pp.75-86; Dan G.M. COUMBAS, O. S.B., Paradis et vie angeZique (translated f ran the Spanish) , Pa ris 1961.

18. A.G. MARI'IMORI', L'Eqlise en priere , Toumai 3 1965, IVerre partie, III ,l (by Bishop P. SAIJ.m, o.s.B.) . '

19. Not without entailing, as a consequence, more than one point of confu sion about the ve:ry nature of liturgical prayer , which more and more has ta ken on a starrp of a juridical and canonical order. On this precise pqint t see the judicious remarks by Fr. A. VEILLEUX , o.s.c.o., "La priere de l'Eglise.Ref lexions sur la theologie de l'Of fice divin" , in CoUectanea Gist. 29 (1967) , pp. 101-115.

20. 'lhis specific nature is of the phenarenological order, not ontological.21. See his conference , "L'Eucharistie, scmnet et source de la Liturgie",

in Parole et Pain 14-15 (1967) , pp. 101-115. A Belgian pastor has recently echoed the same thought, while at the same time a:mnitting himself to a posi tive pastoral ef fort we cannot overly encourage: L. HEUSCHEN, "L'Eglise lo cale, carmunaute de pri re" , Paroisse et Liturgie 1967 , pp. 338-345.

22. Af ter having treated of a certain number of proble:ns concerning theOf fice of monks , Dan G. GAN'IDY, o.s.B. , concludes a recent article with these remarks: "We thus find iri our avn monasteries a problem which is by no means unrelated to the problem in parishes, where the exclusive emphasis placed on the Mass seems indeed to have contributed, if not to· the complete loss ofp rayer services, at least to a cessation of attempts to f ind fonns of prayer which could replace Sunday Vespers, no.v fallen into desuetude, and to f ind new fonns for weekdays , or at least for certain weekdays" ("L 'Of f ice et ses problemes chez les rroines" , in Paroisse et Liturgie 1967 , p. 353.

23. 13th century manuscript, edited by Dem J. LECLERCQ, O.S.B., in CoUec tanea 0,C.R. 14 (1952 ) , p. 120 .

24. Cf. Information Catholique InteY'Ylationale 282 (Feb. 15, 1967) , dossier on Penitence by Dem Claude JEAN-NESMY , O.S.B., pp.17-23. The follo.ving re mai:ks are borrowed f rom this source.

25. Note of the French Episcopal Carmission on Liturgy , dated February 25 , 1967, in Documentation Catholique 1967, col. 1169 ff.

26. "Savez-vous carmunier?" II, quoted in Parole et Pain 14-15, p.210.27. To refer only to the most recent Instruction , cf. Eucharisticum

Myste- rium 29 , 37, and 44.28. PL 114 , 943 (Walaf rid Strabo) .29. PL 172 , 58 (Honorius of Autun) .

30. Letter 54 , To Januarius, PL 35, 200.


31. "Fonns of devotion to the Eucharist are evolving" (Reply of the French Episcopate to the letter fran Cardinal OPrAVIANI, Documentation Catholique 1967, col. 332.We knav that rrore than one liturgist has been taken by sur prise by the rapidity with which concelebraticn has becane the accepted prac tice among priests.History sanetimes evolves with greater speed than we an ticipate!

It might be well to note that, although the Eastern practice differs fran our avn, there is no possibility of our calling into question the esteem these Churches have for the Eucharist.For them, the Eucharist is the litur gy.It is precisely because they celebrate it with such care, solermuty, and conterrplative fervor that the daily celebration of the Eucharist becx:rnes difficult as a regular practice:markedly solemn rites cannot be celebrated in too close succession•

., /32. Dan A.DE VOOUE, o.s.B., has recently proposed, for our

inmediate situation, various solutions of a practical order; cf. art. cit., Note 5, above . For our inm e d i at e situation: for the author's solution would be that the obligation to have a a:mnunity Mass be maintained only on Sundays and feasts. On other days, participation in the Mass would be left to the discretion of each individual; and the Mass would take place at a time which would not con flict with the nonnal rhythm of the Offices.

33. Cf. supra: legitimacy of the question.34. Nn . 26 and 27.Cf. Const. de Sacra Liturgia, 4-42.35. There is sarething analogous in our Cistercian Ritual:the

sacristan does not have to alla.v the celebration of private Masses at the high altar, "nisi maxima necessitas urget" (Lib.VII, c.5, n.11).

36. St. IGN'ATIUS of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians, 4,1.37. Cf. V.MONACHINO, I.a cura pastorale a Milano, Cartagine e

Rana nel secolo IV, Rana 1947.There is a resume by Fr.P.-M .GY, O.P., "I.es rites de la ccmnunion eucharistique", in La Maison-Vieu 24 (1950), p.155.

38. Does this participation according to one's o r d e r necessarily include the participation of every priest present in the consecratory act of the presiding celebrant? Certain theologians, especially in North and Central Europe, are not so bold as to make this affinnation.But the contrary ten dency seems still to prevail, and the Instruction of May 25, 1967 adopts this position (n.47), although there is a certain weight of tradition behind the practice of having so-called "ccmnunity Masses" of the sort describedby Fr.A.-M . I03URI' in La Maison-Dieu 34 (1953), pp .148-156.The new Instruc tion does not abolish, however, n.38 of the preceding Instruction, Musicae s acrae, Septe:rrber 3,1958 (Documentation Catholique 1958, col.1440), and its recarrrendation to celebrate Mass in no way renders illicit a priest's re ceiving Carmunion at a Mass not celebrated by himself. (Any more than the practice of concelebration :renders illicit the celebration of Mass in private.It should further be remarked that no priest is obliged to celebrate Mass every day.Just as there are reasonable rrotives for celebrating Mass in pri vate, so also there can be reasonable rrotives for not celebrating Mass at all.)

On this whole question, one may find an abundance of useful infonnation in H.MANDERS, "Concelebration", in Conailium 2 (1965). Cf. also Theologie et pratique de la Conae71bration (translated fran the Italian), Paris 1967.

Eucharist a:nd Community 85

The principle of each priest ' s participating in the consecrato:ry act may be justif ied in various ways. 'rhe argument that it is nonnal for a priest to participate in the Eucharist according to his order seems to us more per suasive than the argument whicli appeals to the spiritual good which f lewsf ran a greater number of Masses, Whatever the merits of this latter position, f ran a theological standpoint , it remains true that

-in practice, we have to establish a hierarchy of values, even though these values will not always be verif ied to the full. Thus , for the sake of conscious , f ruitf ul participation , we can prefer a smaller number of Masses without there being any question of our denying the validity of any theolo gical principle. It is in this line that n.26 of the Instruction of May 25, 1967, asks that , on Sundays, the number of Masses not be multiplied to the point of hurting a truly ef ficacious pastoral prograrrme of action: "Numerus Missarum non ita multiplicetur ut in detri.nentum cedat actionis pastoralis vere ef ficacis.

-Concelebration does not consist of an addition of Masses, but of the participation of a number of priests in a single consecrato:ry act: there is only one Mass. The f act that several Mass stipends may be involved does not change the situation: the stipend is a purely disciplinary question, and the Holy See has already authorized sare priests to receive several stipends for a single Mass; cf. La Maison-Dieu 35, p.65.

39. Cf. Dan Claude JEAN-NESMY , o.s.B., "Pluralisme et unite de la litur gie des rronasteres" , in Liturgie et monasteres. Etudes 1, Bruges 1966 , pp.21- 30.

40. "Les objectifs de la fonnation liturgique des moines et des moniales", in Liturgie et monasteres. Etudes 2 , Bruges 1967 , p.118.

41. Quoted in a note to the conference by M. OOISSON, at the Bordeaux Congress, in Parole et Pain 14-15 (1966) , note 65.

42. Our Fathers of the Middle Age were animated by the same reystique, if we are to judge by the senti.nents which were theirs at the tine of their rooming rising -at least , if we listen to HUGH of Barzelles, a conterrpora:ry of Saint Bernard (though there is no explicit reference to the Eucharist in the folloong citation) : "• • "As if they were rising f ran the tomb, they hasten to leap f ran their couches and to run forth to meet you, I.Drd , who are calling them; they think , too, of that rising for the general resurrec tion when, in the middle of the night, we shall rise and run to rreet you at the sound of the last trurrpet! They hasten to cane and present themselvesbefore your blessed presence • • • " De cohabitatione fwtrum, edited by Dan JohnMORSCN , O.C.S.O. , in Studia Anselmiana 41, pp. 134-135.

43. Letter I , translated by A. DE HALLEUX , in CSCO 255, pp.8-9.

86 The Mandatum

THE MANDATUM :CX>NTINUED!

Perospiaaaious roeaderos of this buUetin will by now have surmised on the ba sis of the arorangement (oro laak of logical arrangement) of the contents of eaah issue, that the materoial is typed and roeprooduced aacording to the tem po of the roeaeption of material and the time available for typing chores. Up to the presen t time, we have not been able to indulge in the luxury of wait ing till all the material has been gathered and edited, before we begin the typing and multiplication of aopies. Had I known that Fr. Matthew's aontri bution of October 4th ("An Open Letter about the Mandatum", pp. 61-62 of the current issue) was going to be followed by Bro. Benedict's helpful aomments, dated Octobero 5th, and that Br. Benedict's roemarks were going to eliait yet anothero rewarding controibution from Fro. Matthew on Octobero 6th, all this materoial would have been gathered together undero a single heading. In my in trooduatory remarks to Fro. Matthew's oroiginal memoroand um, I noted that only one point had been made, and that any balanaed discussion about the Mandatum would have to be aonceraned for related aroeas left untouahed by Fro. Matthew's remaroks . Bro. Benedict alearoly and foraefully broadens the area of discus sion, and proesen ts an objection which represents the optia shared by many of us. Fro. Matthew's furother comments are no less clear and foroceful, and help us roealize that, basically, the "problem" is not just that of the Mandatum, but that of our monastic culturoe in general.

Dear Liturgy People:

I

A letter f ran Br. Benedict October 5 I 1967

I have just :read Fr. Matthew's ccmnents on the Manda.tum, and the rrotive he gives for the dJjections to it, scil. , fear of expressing love.

I disagree. The Manda.tum seems to me no longer to be a valid sign;fuani festation of love , because it does not have a practical ftmction. It is pure cererrony. In other words, it is artificial.

If our feet needed washing, as they would if we wore sandals and actually got them dirty, then the Manda.tum would take on an entirely dif ferent conno tation. But the f act is just the opposite: our feet are clean -because we

wash them beforehand. The washing is a mere splash; there is only a token scrub and dJ:y.

Saneone might answer: "Well, then , let's cane to the chapter with dirty feet, and get them :really washed there."

This still would not save the Manda.tum fran being a simulated act of cha rity, because to clean another person ' s feet today is not an ordinary act of charity. It was in our Lord' s time, and perllaps in the Middle Ages; but not so today. ('Ihe only exception today would be when a person is sick and can-

The Mandatum 87

not wash his avn feet. But because this is an exception, it bears out thef act that washing another person's feet is not an ordinary action. ) Further rrore, a poor person would be embarrassed to have his feet washed by another person , because cx:mnon oourtesy navadays would require of him to have his feet clean in the first place.

And this brings us to the third point. Today we need expressions of re spect for persons. 'Ihe person served, and also the person serving, should both be considered -by each other -to be equals as brothers. In the Mandatum, then, the one washing the feet should not imagine himself as a slave or as an inferior being. If he did think in this way, and washed an other's feet , the footwashing would not be charity, but rather the due act of one who ccnsidered himself as an inferior human being, subservient to a superior hunan being.

We need, rather , a relevant, ordinary, f raternal action which can both symbolize and actually be an act of charity. For exarrple, the of fering and sharing of a cx::mnon meal.

I was one of many who criticized th.e Mandatum in the rerent questionnaire.If the principles stated above are correct, the criticism seems valid. To want to save the Mandatum because we are supposedly af raid to express love, is not actually meeting the prc:blem of symbolism, and of the Mandatum as a

symbol.In our I..ord,

B. Benedict

IIA Reply f ran Fr. Matthev;r

Dear Brother Benedict:

Saint Bnmo's Day

Thanks for your note. Good. I myself feel that the I..ord' s action in washing the apostles' feet was more poetical than practical. I f rankly doubt that they would have care with dirty feet to the Last Supper. Thus, even though there may have been sare measure of practicality to what he did, I

would venture to think that it was more a symbol than sarething very useful. Had he wished to be sensible, he might better have served them at ta-

88 The Mandatum

ble or set the table, washed the dishes , etc.

Saint Peter seeired to get the point that it was symbolical, for he wanted to be washed all over, not because he was physically dirty but because he felt spiritually unclean. Christ told him that the ritual washing of the feet would suf fice, since it was a symbol of the whole body being cleansed and of the soul.

I think appro§.ching the Mandatum f:ran the point of practicality is sane what futile. This can better be understood in the way of poetJ:y or play. If we are going to be utterly practical we will rob our life of all its poetic aspect , and this would make it i.npossible to bear. Without poet:ry we perish. Thus: what value has incense? What practical use is there to of fering it?Or candles? Or vestments? Or C<:Mls? If we si.rrply go through the life and sweep out all that is not practical, we end up with a prison.

Modem man , I admit, is i.rrprisaned in a world that has lost its sense of poet:ry because it wishes above all else to be practical. But it will not work.And the rronastic life without poetJ:y is si.rrply unthinkable.

We already serve the brethren in many ways , and so perfo:rm many acts of love in washing, cooking, sewing, sweeping, etc. There is hardly any need to labor this point. What is necessary is that we give all these services a spiritual tone and quality , and this can be done only through ritual and ce:renony. Thus , you take a function like washing the human body, connect it with the act of true love, and act it out in ritual f ashion in order to give

day to day life that extra dirrension that can get it of f the ground and giveit spiritual overtones. Unite it , in other words, with the true world of thespirit.

We do this in a rrost sublime way with the Eucharist, which sacrarrental izes in a rrost profound manner the daily business of eating. Yet it is high ly ritualistic. Anointings, baptism, laying an of hands, kiss of peace are all rrore of the sarre. But in all these there is always going to be a kind of gap between the function and daily life, and this is needed in order to get the thing f ar enough CMay to make it possible to spiritualize it. It has to have an element of drama and play about it: if it is too real it does not

work. Thus: it would be pretty hard to ritualize washing saneane 's dirty socks as an expression of brotherly love, even though in daily life this

The Ma:ndatwn 89

might be a genuine sign of love. But it is too earthly to stand poetic treat rrent. 'nlus , when things are slightly rem:>ved fran us by time and current practice, it is much s:i.npler to use them in a poetic way. So it is that we

like candle light for a dinner. Or that the aney still blavs the bugle even though sound systems do the real work of car:rying rressages. And we still f ly the f lag even though it is not practical.

But we must also always rerrerrber the danger that the rite may get too far rerroved f ran our own world and becane so stylized that we no longer can grasp its rreaning. This is part of our problem today with rites, but by no rreans

the whole problem. In the area of symbol and symbolical action, the m:x'iem world is practically dead, and in this area we are just this side of barren. Since nonk.s are f rom the world of our day, it follavs that they bring to the

nonaste:ry sleeping hearts that do not :respond to symbolical action. Anyway,

enough. A few thoughts to shav Il'\Y good will!

Peace, joy • • •matthew

Gethsemani Br. Benedict KUNTZ , O.C.S.O. Fr. Matthew KELTEY, O.C.S.O.

90

'lW) TEXTS OF ISAAC OF S'IELLA CN CHARITY

During the preparation of the collection of patristic :readings for the Votive Of fice of OUr Lady (cf. Liturgie 2 [1967] } , a remarkable text of Isaac of Stella -Mary, the Church , and the soul -was at first included arrong the material. The page in question was given by Fr. H. DE LUBAC, S.J., in his work Catho'licism (1) . It was decided, ha.vever, that

it would be dif fi cult to appreciate its doctrinal riclmess during a s:i.nple

public :reading be cause of the density of the text. So it was anitted.

Fortl.mately, this eminent 12th century Cistercian theologian has left oth er pages equally brilliant, and which do not conf ront us with the dif ficul ties we have just mentioned. It would certainly be :regrettable if we were unable to glean sare text or other f ran this author for inclusion in our new

night of f ice lectionary. After all, he is the only Cistercian to have the honor of being cited in the documents of the second Vatican Council (2) .

The two passages f ran Isaac's seimans which folla.v will lead us back to the ve:ry heart of the Gospel, to what is most essential in its message. 'Ihis magnificent ccmnentacy on the twofold ccmnandment of the lord :retains all

its f reshness for us , m:mks and nuns, for it is truly timeless.Biblical quotes and

reminiscences abound, especially f ran St. Paul. We have not noted them

all, ha.vever, so as not to overburden the text.

Just :recently , Dan Andre FRAOIEBOUD, o.c.s.o., has given us a vol'Lme

of the collection Pain de Ci.teaux that has increased our esteem and greatly whetted our appetite f or Les premiers spiritueis cisterciens (3) . On page116 he writes: "'Ihe primacy of charity is the central point of the Cistercian doctrine." Further en (p.130) he discusses the teaching an the twof old ob ject of charity. Here "Guerric of Igny seems to have ef fected the synthe sis." Be that as it may , perhaps no one has expressed this synthesis better than Isaac of

Stella in the two passages which we present here. Like the ab bot of Igny, he does this not in a more or less theoretical treatise, but in

the :rro:re concrete f o:rm of a seiman to his mooks.

Isaac of Stella on Charity 91

I

The Primacy of Charity

Why is it, Il¥ brethren, that we have so little interest in seeking chances to cooperate in each other' s salvation, so that where we would see greater need we would be rrore solicitous in bringing help, and thus fraternally bear one another ' s burdens? The Apostle admonishes us to do this, when he says "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6, 2). Elsewhere he speaks of "supporting one another in charity" (Eph 4,2 ) . Charity is indeed the law of Christ. Why do I not patiently bear withwhatever I may see in Il¥ brother that is irrerrediable, either because of sare physical necessity or sane bodily or rroral weakness? Indeed I should striveto encourage him, as it is written , "They shall be carried in her arms , and fondled in her lap" (Is 66, 12).

Or is it that I am lacking in that charity which puts up with everything, that is patient in supporting, kind in loving (cf. 1 Car 13, ?.4)? This

is indeed the law of Christ who has truly "taken on our suf ferings" in his pas sion, and has carpassionately "borne our sorrc:Ms" (cf. Is 53, 4), loving those whan he bore and bearing those whan he loved. On the other hand, any one who treats a brother rudely in his need or takes unfair advantage of his weakness of whatever kind, is obviously obeying the law of the devil; worse, he fulfills it.

I. et us be carpassionate with one another , then , full of f raternal charity, supporting each other's weakness though warring on vice.This is especially appropriate for us , few as we are , who have f led here to this lonely island isolated f ran the world at large for the sake of a rrore austere life.

In point of fact, a way of life is more pleasing to God to the extent

that it is a wholehearted pursuit of charity, tc:Mards God first, then, for his sake, tavards one's neighbor , whatever may be the observances or habit in which it is lived. It is charity, properly speaking, that governs what oughtor ought not to be done, or changed or not changed. Charity is the principle by which we ought to act, and charity is the end tc:Mard which all should be

directed. There is nothing wrong in anything done for charity and in chari ty. May he whan we cannot please. without his aid deign to grant us this charity without which we can do nothing whatever -he who lives and reigns, God through deathless ages. Amen.

-SeY'lno 31, ad finem, PL 194, 1792-3

92 Isaac of Stella on Charity

II'!he Twofold Cbject of Charity

Blessed indeed the man, my dearest brethren, who can follow the lord Jesus in eve:cything, running after the odor of his ointments wherever he goes, mounting upwards in the leisure of canterrplation , being free to see that he is truly God, then descending to the duties of charity , following Jesus intothe obedience rendered in humble service, into the love of poverty , to bear ing with hunger and thirst , weariness and labor, weeping and prayer, in can passion , and finally in his passicn. He came to obey to the death, to serve and not to be served, to give not silver or gold but his teaching and assis tance, to give his ve:ry life for many.

HCM blessed was Paul who, follc:Ming Jesus everywhere, could say, "If we are out of our mind, it is for God's glo:ry; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit'' ( cf . 2 Car 5, 13) . He reckoned it f ar better to be with Christ -for it is good for us to be here -but nonetheless he did not ref use to remain in the prison of the f lesh out of love· f or his brethren.

let this then be the rrodel for our life, my brethren, f or this is the rule of a holy way of life, a life lived in thought and desire in that eternal hland with Christ: to ref use no deed of charity in the course of this painful pilgrimage for Christ; follc:Ming Christ upward tc:Mard the Father

in conterrplative leisure to be trinmed Cbwn , sinplified, unif ied by

meditation; follc:Ming Christ dCM'lWard tc:Mards a brother , to expand with activity, to be divided arrong many things , to be all things to all rren.

To scorn nothing that is for Christ , to love nothing that is not his; to thirst for one alone, to have time for one alone -where Christ is one alone -to want to serve all -where Christ is many.

-SePmo 12, PL 194, 1730-31

If the choice of these two passages draws attention to their value , as I dare to e:>q;>ect it will, then I may perhaps be pennitted to give expression to my hope: that there may be many others who would be glad to suggest other texts of both ancient and more recent authors suitable f or inclusion in the lectionary nc:M in preparation. Precise references to s work or other (Latin , French , English • • • ) will indeed be :rrost appreciated, but it goes

without saying that the texts themselves in their entirety will be f ar more

Isaac of Stella on Charity 93

appreciated, especially if given in a living language with exact references.

'VE are right to expect much of the Consilium's selection of "readings drawn fran the works of the Fathers, doctors and ecclesiastical writers", but to imagine that the choice will fulfill our legitimate desires of contacting the rronastic experience of past centuries would be extrerrely naive. The re sponsibility lies with us to draw as judiciously as possible fran the tradi tion which is our arm or which touches on our conterrplative vocation.

Orval Fr.Bernard BACKAERI', o.c.s.o.Translated by Br.Alberic Delaney, O.C.S.O.Gethsemani

NOI'F.S

1.Pp.259-60. London 1950.2. Lumen Gentium, c. 8, n.64, (Isaac of Stella, Sermo 51, PL 194, 1863A). 3.Pain de Ctteaux 30, Chambarand 1967.

. I

94

THE REIDVATIOO OF THE CHUroi AND THE COOSECRATION OF THE HIGl ALTAR: GETHSEMANI 1967

Al.m::>st a hundred and one years have passed since the consecration of our abbey church and its original high altar.The

years preceding the consecration had been years of particular hardship.The War between the States had broken out on the ver:y day of the installation of our second abbot, Dom Benedict Berger, April 19, 1861. Kentucky1 being a border state, was divided between two loyalties, and suffered intensely. In the ordinar:y oourse of events, the economic effects of the war would have doooed to disaster even the nost nodest of building projects undertaken at that tine. But a building project was begun here at Gethsemani; and by April, 1864, work on the

church was far enough advanced to allav the dedication of the lower half of the structure which for so many years was to accom::xlate neighboring Catholics as a so-called "secular church". In late auturm of 1866, the entire church wasnore or less finished; and on Noverrber 15th of the sarre year, the aged :rretro politan Archbishop of Cincinnati, John B.Purcell, cane to oonsecrate the church and its high altar . Also present were a number of other prelates fa rrous in the histm:y of Airerican Catholicism:Archbishop Martin J. Spalding, who preached the se:rnon; Bishop P.J. Lavialle of Iouisville, Ordinar:y of the diocese; and Bishop John Tim:m of Buffalo, who assisted in the oonsecration of the seven apse altars. Europe was represented in the person of Dom Bruno Fitzpatrick of M:>unt Malleray -a house which, like Gethsemani, has Malleray for its nother.

In 1866, our abbey church was thought to be enornous; and, indeed, it was at that ti:rre one of the larger catholic churches in the

States.Lack of ade quate financial resources was probably so:rrething of a blessing. It necessa rily inposed rrore than usual restraints in the construction and omarrenta tion of the new house of rship. It was still inevitable, havever, that the structure reflected the taste of the ti:rres; and, in point of fact, our Geth sernani forefathers built t w o abbey churches -one within the other!

'Ihe first church was a beautifully proportioned crucifo::an structure, with walls of local red brick and a wood-tinbered ceiling

of the sort many of us have seen at Tre Fontane or other ancient Cistercian m:nasteries.Within this sirrple, chaste interior, the nonks built a seoond church, one made chiefly out of plaster.'Ihere was a suspended ceiling with neo-G:>thic curves

Gethsemani Churoh and Altar 95

and fluting; and the half-dozen or nore plaster columns around the sanctua ry rose to rreet the non-functional arches in an explosion of grape clusters with vine leaves and tendrils. 'Ihe entire brick interior received a generous coating of plaster, and the ceiling was painted a delicate baby-blue .Seven apse chapels, each with its plaster-decorated altar, defined the rear cir cumference of the sanctuary .

But plaster deteriorates rapidly. '!hank heavens !Even without the exi gencies of present liturgical legislation, the accelerated dilapidation ofour plaster interior would have made a rebuilding project all but inevitable. After a careful study of the problem, those responsible for making the de cision were agreed that there could be no question of an entirely nev.r struc ture .As a matter of fact, there was no need for a new structure .Our fathers had already built it for us . 'Ihus, the :rebuilding programre, as formulated by our designer, Mr. William SCHICKEL, consisted chiefly of removing the plaster and whatever else overlaid the sinple beauty and dignity of the original structure.Our

rebuilt church, then, is in direct continuity with the church built by our Gathsemani forebears.We are very happy about.this. It is , in fact, sorrething of a parable.For years we had seen only imitation archesand plaster decorations; but undemeath all this there lay something s.irrple and noble and beautiful, sorrething in the best tradition of our Cistercian Fathers. '!his fact is nCM without :relevance to our Order's present programre of :renewal.

'!he follcwing unpretentious notes offer only the briefest sort of corrment on the follcwing photographs of our renovated church -photographs for which special thanks are due our Br.PIUS .T.he material chosen for presentationis quite limited in scope. Excluded are our new cloister and preau, the

guest chapel, the tribune, the confessionals for ret:reatants as well as those for the brethren, the sacrarium and chapels and new secondary altars. T.he choice of pictures was determined mainly by a desire to

a01uaint you withthe general appearance of the renovated church, with a viev.r toward your getting a good idea of our new setting for conmunity

worship.We shall be dealing, then, cnly with generalities; and nost of these will be of a fairly non-technical nature. I am not sure, but I believe that the designer in tends to introduce the renovated church in sorre future issue of Churoh Arts Quarterly or of sorre similar magazine devoted to liturgical arts and archi-

96 Gethsemani Church and A ltar

tecture. If this idea materializes, I shall rrention further details in a note in the next issue of this bulletin.

Figure 1. A general view of the entire nave. Two clearly def ined areas are in evidence. The choir for the Of f ice is tavard the back part of

the church , and the f ront of the church is arranged so as to allav the breth ren to group around the altar for the carmmity Mass.

The arrangerrent of the carmunity for Mass has been a problem here -at least in the last decade or so. 'Ihe carmmity is a large one. When arranged in the fonrer of fice stalls, they fomed a half-dozen long, long lines, aswas inevitable so long as Of fice stalls did service as Mass stalls. When seated, the brethren were at right angles to the sanctuary o This created a psychological distance during the Mass readings, prayers, and chants sung in a seated posture. In this respect, most parish churches are f ar better than our monastic churches. Each participant can face the sanctuary at all tines. Our rebuilt abbey church nav has all the advantages of the parish church ar

rangerrent. In our carmunity, the new seating arrangerrent has even more rele vance due to the f act that scrre of our Mass chants are alternated, not be tween two choirs in the nave, but between concelebrants and the rest of the a::.mnunity. 'Ihus , there is a constant dialogue between sanctuary and nave.'Ihe whole carmunity is arranged in a full circle (the chairs of the concele brants border the round sanctuary) . Yet, in spite of the physical and psy chological proximity of the brethren to the altar, there is no diminution of the "sacred space" atm:>sphere which we tried (successfully , I think) to re tain. This is not to say that any of us here are necessarily opposed to the wann, rnore intimate atmJsphere one f inds ideal in certain chapels rreant for college groups or small parish gatherings. But our avn carmunity is large, and the area of space is ccnsiderable; and a more infonnal treatment would have resulted in a congested, tight atmosphere. 'As it is , the f ree-seating arrangerrent (which contrasts wonderfully well with the more fonnal arrange rrent of the choir for the Of fice) helps foster an atmJsphere of unpretentious s irrplicity and directness. Each individual shif ts his chair around as he wishes , and can choose to sit wherever he wills. Yet the feeling is never that of disorder, but that of a carmunity of worshippers gathered around the altar.

'Ihe choir stalls were the f ruit of much thought and work. Gane are the

2

3

4 5

6

Ge thsemani Church and A Z tar 99

days of the massive-sized choir books. '!he stalls are sorrewhat more arrple than our fonrer ones. Each mcnk has his CM1 set of choir books in octavo format. '!he books themselves were bound by a local craf tsman, Mr. KAST, who has three generations of master bookbinders in his family. Our Br. Lavrans designed the bindings. The lCMer two-thirds is bound in a heavy brown mate rial of such dark intensity that nost people think it is black. There is a dif ference, though , and this is felt even if it is not clearly perceived; so that we are handling, not drab black-bound books, but books "Which create a feeling of sober but rich wannth. The upper third consists of a "Whitish spotted strip of rather rough cloth , stamped with the name of the book in light black characters. For bookmarks, brown and black leather strips serve wonderfully well: durable, and in perfect hannony with the general appearance of the book. The binding is double-stitched, so that each book lies open no matter "What the page is. Our c:wn master bookbinder, Fr. Philip, supe:rvised the general production; and all of us are grateful that, thanks to the care ful work of all concerned, the material inconveniences occasioned by sane of our older choir books have all but disappeared. The distance between thedesk and the monk is such that one can rest the book on the desk or, if he prefers , hold it in his hand.

'!he flooring in the stalls is only temporacy , and will soon be replaced by

heavy hicko:cy wood.

The general area is covered by a pebble f loor, "Which has the great advan tage, not only of presenting a fine appearance, but of being extremely "qui

et". Its inconvenience as a kneeling surf ace is taken care of by small kneeling pads visible in Figure 1, and more visible in Figure 6.

Figure 2. A rather large tapest:cy of Our Lady will eventually cover part of the apse wall. In the rreantirre , her presence is rrediated to us in

a concrete way thanks to a sacred image painted several years ago by our Br. Lavrans. Its precise position can be seen in Figure 1 -at the lef t comer of the nave wall, just before the Mass area.

It might seem that the image , though beautif ully painted, runs counter to the canons of good ikonography: the Mother of God is without her Child! But this is not at all true. I.et rre eJ<plain.

This ikonographic type of the Mother of God presents her under the title

100 Gethsemani Church and A ltar

of "Hodigitria". 'Ihe tenn is a CCtlpOtmd of tw'O words , the first of which , "hooe" , means "road" or "path" o The Mother of God points out the way, the road, to her San o Further , her attitude in this representation is of special significance. With one hand she gestures tCMard us , and calls us an; with

the other, she points in a certain direction: and if we follCM the line of direction, our eyes pass fran the ikan to the ambo (Christ present in theproclamation of the word) , to the altar (=Christ) , to the presidential chair(Christ present in the celebrant) , to the sanctuary cross, to the tabernacle

(Christ present in the Eucharist) . We do not have to knCM that this repre sentation of Our Lady is rooted in the ancient Byzantine court cererronial for the presentation of sarecne to the Errperor. Even without this point of ref erence, we feel ourselves drawn by the Mother of God into a rhythmic moverrent of dynamic intensity , which draws us into life-giving contact with Christ-Em manuel. I think , then , that the ikon is beautifully placed, and - for those with spiritual eyes with which to see -is rich with theology.

Figure 3. 'Ihe altar is a wonderfully strong, straightf m:ward block of Vir- ginia granite. 'Ihe dimensions are rrodest enough -sare six feet

by four feet. But the size is adequate, perfectly proportioned to the gener al area, and has a strength and vigor whidl oould have turned into rrere bulk and heaviness, had the dimensions been more massive.

The altar was consecrated by our recently installed Archbishop Thanas Mc Donough , on September 3, 1967. The entire rite was celebrated in the mother

tongue. Many of the necessary translations were already available in off i cial fonn, in Fr. Thanas Weller's English Ritual of 1964. With permissicnf rom the proper authorities, it was possible to make good the few texts still unavailable in English. The rite itself was recently revised en the occasion of the 1962 publication of Book III of the RrnJan Pontif icale. Even at this pre-Cotmcil date, provisions had been made f or a maximum of f lexibility and adaptability to local conditions. Acoordingly, it was not at all dif ficultto make provisicns for a celebration worthy of the occasion.

The reader will find a copy of the texts and music in the envelope aca:xn panying this issue, and marked "Supplerrent". The same envelope also contains a copy of the new (unbotmd) English Kyriale we used on this occasione Since the altar was dedicated to Our Lady under the title of her Assurrption, the Mass was that of the Assurrption (with the Entrance Antiphon "Vultum tuum") .

Ge thsemani Churah and A Ztar 101

The booklet also contains the music for the Mass propers , with the exception of the Of fertory versets sung by the Cantor , the Prayer of the Faithf ul, and the Ccrrmunion psalrrody.

The cross pictured in Figure 3 calls for explanation. It is not the same cross found in Figure 1, and we have used this rather warped wooden cross on ly once during the Mass. It has no co:rpus. We used it for a special reason , though , and we hope to use it again with the necessary permissions, because this cross rreans a great deal to all of us. It is the cross brought by our founding f athers f ran Melleray to Gethsemani. And pe:rhaps this would be an opportune time to tell you about the Mass we celebrated on September 4th ,when the workrren and their f amilies came to Gethsemani to celebrate this Mass. The day was Labor Day, and the Mass was a votive Mass of St. Joseph the Workman; and our Fr. Matthew preached the hanily. It wasf ine hanily.We tend to think of the hanily as always being a carrnentary on the

Scripture texts just read. It can also be a ccmrentary on the rite itself , or on sane signif icant event in the life of the carmunity. This is what Fr. Matthew's hanily was.

A Ha.1ILY

Yesterday, in a very splendid action, our Reverend Archbishop consecrated this holy stone which is the altar of the abbey church of Gethsemani. It was first washed with blessed water. The bones of saints and martyrs were buried beneath , to testify to the <llristian ' s call to holiness and martyr dan. 'Ihen the altar was anointed with sacred chrism; and, f inally, in a vision of glory , at each comer and in the middle was marked for the five wol.IDds of <llrist with f lames of fire , with the f ragrance of incense.

Then the Mass of the Assurrption of the Mother of God was of fered on it by the canmunity. And so this rronastery makes a new beginning.But beginnings are always rooted in the past. There is a cross, on a hill top not f ar f ran here , that rreans much to us. It is the cross that once stood on the steeple high above this holy spot. When the renovation of this church began, it was not without sane anxiety that the rronks realized that the steeple had to care cbNn , nor without anguish as they watched the w::>rk men first begin the derrolition. But it became evident very soon that there was no need for anxiety or anguish. For f ran the rren thernselves came a tender, spontaneous reverence for the cross that made everyone glad. They lONered it slONly , inch for inch, never allONing it to be any way but up right , in honor and dignity all the way dCMn to the ground. And then ,rather than destroy it , it was decided to erect it on a hill in the woods around us. And there today it looks out over Gethsemani as it has done for over one hundred years , placed in a lovely setting, marked with a plaque.There is another cross fran the past. It is this cross our founding f athers

102 Ge thsemani Churah and A Uar

brought f rom the nether house in France when they lef t that nenastery in 1848 to found a new abbey in the wildemess of Kentucky. 'lhis cross is our link to our nether, is pe:rhaps t-he only material thing we have, save the bones of the rranks, that identif ies us with our f orebears . It is not inappropriate that we should do honor to such a cross, unworthy of such man though we be .Nor should it escape anycne that both crosses are bare, have no body. Maybe we ought to use bare crosses for a 'While. Maybe we need to be reminded that Jesus is pe:rhaps tired of hanging there and wants us to take our tum. Maybe we need to see in imagery the truth that there is no Christianity without the cross, and that there is no Christian unless he knavs what it is to carry it, and, better than that, to be nailed to it. M:lnks too need to be reminded of this , for they are terrpted to take to their heels when they hear the sound of the harmer and the clink of the nails -the very things that will make their identity with Christ total.We thank you for your IDrk on this church, and on the preau and the cloister. We thank in particular William Shickel and his associates , for f rom his cre ative mind cane what you see today. Who would have thought the old bricks and beams had so much beauty in them? But his dreams and plans would have remained just that, unless there were architects and engineers and skilled craf tsrrenof all kinds to make those dreams corre tru:, to make those plans realities.We thank them all, and in particular 'lhomas M::x:m and all the good rren associ ated with him.We hope your having worked here these few nonths will be a joy for you all your lives , that you will tell your sons and your grandsons af ter them: "I worked on the dlurch of the abbey of Gethsemani."And we, on our part?May we never give you cause for shame or :regret.May we be the rren God called us to be: man of prayer and man of peace.And man of work. ltnks have always been man of work , of labor. You have only to look at their hands to see that this is so. We knav, then , and love the world of labor, since work is a share in the creative genius of God and a car:rying out of our part in his plan.Just as the Fedemptian is not f inished, and must be coopletedby rren strong in love who are able and willing to take up a cross, carry it to the end,and then be nailed to it, and die an it,so too, the world is not finished and must be completedby rren who will take the world as they kno.v it and sorrehav make it better, holier,happier,and ne:re beautif ul than when they found it.Man who rreasu:re ha:ppiness not by 'What they can get , but by what they can give.Man who are not ashamed to be wounded in the service of love, kno.ving that such wounds will one day be blazing in glo:ry,in the f ire of God ' s love.Today we gather round this altar to of fer the Eucharist in honor of the f a ther of the Holy Family, Joseph the Carpenter. May he bless us all, and may he especially bless you and your families for your work here f or us.

Gethsemani Churah and Attar 103

Never forget that you are and always will be a part of this place. You have left your mark behind you; part of you is here. God grant that it be etemal joy. Arren.

Figure 4. 'Ihe presiding celebrant 's chair calls for little ccmnanto At first, sare of us had the inpressian that a foot or so sawed of f the back

would produce a chair of rrore agreeable proportions; but when the presiding celebrant is seated, with his ooncelebrants an either side, the general ef fect seerrs to be just Vv'hat it should be.

'Ihe plaoenent of the tabemacle raises a problem belonging to the type of the insoluble. In our cancrete situation, the Blessed Sacrarrent should be accessible to the oomnunity , of course; but also to the guests and retreat ants in the rear tribune. It should be in a prcminent place, but should not conf lict with the Mass action. Our present solution need not be def initive; but it does represent an ef fort in the direction of a solution which takes into account the multiple aspects of the delicate prcblem.

Figure 5. OUr Br. La.vrans prepared the reliquary used for the "burial" of the relics during the consecration of our high altar. 'Ihe reliquru:y shown in the photograph is not the reliquary actually used, but only a prelimina ry version. 'Ihe beautifully engraved reliquru:y actually used portrayed Christ in glory. Leather thongs were used to secure the cover, rather than

the usual f limsy red silk string. 'Ihe inside of the round bumished copper cootainer was lined with deep blue felt. 'Ihe relics chosen were of saints representative of dif ferent ages and cultures and forms of Cllristian holiness, so that sorcething of the total reystery of Christ living and presentin his Church would be manifest in the rites surrounding the consecration of our altar. The saints whose relics were enclosed in the "sepulcher" at the base of the altar are: St. Ignatius of Antioch (bishop-martyr , and co-eval with sarre of the apostles) , St. Leo I (5th century bishop of Roma and doc tor of the Church) , St. Anastasius (convert, Persian rronk and martyr of the

7th century ) , St. Rd:>ert of .r.t>lesrre (12th century founder of our Order) , St.Charles Iwanga (19th century Uganda layman and martyr) , and St. Frances xavier Cabrini (20th century apostle of charity and first Arrerican citizen to

be canonized) .

104 Gethsema:ni Churah and Altar

Figure 6.'Ibis photograph (rather on the dark side) gives a fairly good idea of the Mass area viewed at a ve:ry short distance .The double-door

barely visible to the left of the large transept window leads to the cerrete ry.The chairs are usually left as they are in the photograph . But they are lightweight and extrerrely functional, and can be stacked in piles of forty within a few minutes.The sanctuary colurm.s are I-beams painted a sufficient ly deep olive tan to rrake them define the sanctuary area without at the sarre tirre contrasting essively with the white painted brick walls.The

exposed wooden roof beams (retained from the original church) are not visible in any of the photographs.

For our concluding :remarks, let us listen to the 5th centu:ry chorepisco pus of Aleppo, BAI.AI. 'Ihese beautiful texts for the dedication of a church have been translated by Walter MI'IUiELL, and

first appeared in Early Chris tian Prayers, edited by A. HAMMAN,

O.F.M., Chicago - Landon 1961, pp.187-

188.

Fo r the D e d i c a t i o n o f a Chu r ch

It needs no rrore than three to rreet in your name for a church to corre into being.'Ihere are many asserrbled here: give them your protection.'Iheir hearts had built this sanctua:ry to the glory of your name before ever hand laid one stone on another.May the tenple we build within ourselves be as beautiful as the terrple built of stone.May your kindness irrpel you to live in both kinds of tenple, for our hearts, no less than these stones, bear the mark of your name.God, who is all-pcwerful, could have made himself a house as easily as he brought the world into existence, with a wa-ve of his hand.But he preferred to build man instead, and man in tum was to build for him.Blessed be the rrercy that shaved us such love .

He lives am::ng us, such is his love for us; he binds us to himself with his love .He has corre to stay with us and urges us to take the road to heaven, to go and live with him.Where are you, Lord? In heaven .Where shall we e:xpect to find you? Here in the sanctua:ry. Your heavens are too high for us,

but the church is within our reach and V"8 can find you there.Your throne in heaven rests on a bank of

flame : who would dare to approach it?But the God of all paver lives also in bread:

whoever will rray approach and taste.

Gethsema:ni Fr.Cllrysogcnus WADDELL, O.C.S.O.

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